fictionaL dimensions
by Callistrotta
Summary: L is defeated by Kira knowing he was right about Light Yagami all along. He slips away into death only to wake up in our world, where he exists only as a fictional character. Teaming up with Ellie May, a woman from our dimension, he searches for a way to take down Kira once and for all. LxOC
1. Prologue

This chapter is just a recap of L's death, the story will begin in chapter 2. Just think of this as a prologue.

* * *

"Ryuzaki, what are you trying to do?" Light questioned me, wondering why I would need to arrange for the notebook to be transported.

I grabbed the spoon I had been using to stir my tea and tapped the book casually, "I'm gonna try out the notebook for real."

Once again everyone in the room seemed shocked at my words. I'm noticing this is a common occurrence, even after several years working together. You'd think they'd have gotten used to me by now.

"We can't do that! And there's no point in testing it now when we already know the notebook's power is real."

"And besides, who's gonna write the name? If someone starts writing in the notebook they'll have to obey the 13-day rule and keep writing names forever!"

"It's already been worked out," I attempted to calm them. They seemed to be upset about this, although I honestly couldn't understand why. "The person who will write in the book is a criminal scheduled to be executed in just over 13 days. If he's still alive 13 days after writing the name, he'll be pardoned from execution."

Chief Yagami still didn't seem to agree with me. "But still…," he said hesitantly, "To sacrifice a life- "

"We're very close!" I snapped at him, interrupting his weak protest. Enough of this foolishness, how could none of them see how important this was? "If we work this out, the entire case will be solved."

Just then we heard a loud thunderclap from above us and the monitors went haywire. The emergency power kicked in and alarms began going off. This put everyone into a frenzy. I merely sat there with my feet on the chair as I usually do.

"What's this, a blackout?" Someone called out amongst the confusion.

Then I heard strange noises coming from the speakers. They sounded like Watari was in trouble.

"Watari?" I tested, hoping he could enlighten the situation. Then I heard a cry of pain and a crash. I called out to my trusted colleague again, hoping in vain that he was alright, _"_ Watari!"

Then the screens all went blank, showing only the words ' _All data deletion'_.

"Data deletion? What the hell is going on?" One of the task force members asked in panic. I couldn't tell who, as I also was beginning to feel no small amount of fear grip at my heart.

"I told Watari to make sure that he should erase all information in the event that something were to happen to him."

They all started talking at once. All I could pick out was, "If something were to happen?" and "Could it be?"

Then realization hit and I went into full emergency mode, "Where is the Shinigami?"

Chief Yagami responded, "Good question, I don't see it!"

Everyone started looking around the room desperately, "It disappeared…"

"What's going on?"

No one in the task force had a clue what was happening. Except for me. "Everyone," I started, urgency evident in my tone, "the shiniga- "

I felt the most excruciating pain I had ever felt grip my chest, paralyzing me. I struggled to breathe as my body began to give way. I dropped my spoon and lost control entirely, falling in what felt like slow motion to the floor. Light caught me before I hit the ground.

Flashes of color came and went from my mind. I heard the chiming of a bell and saw a beautiful stained glass window. A church. A crying child. A beautiful garden with an old metal fence guarding it. In between each vision I saw Light Yagami.

In his eyes, I saw triumph.

 _So_ , I thought as I slipped away, _I was right after all. Light Yagami is, and always has been, Kira. My first friend, and my most worthy opponent... You win._

Then the whole world went black.


	2. Not in Kansas anymore

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.

* * *

I woke up in the strangest of places. It was dark and cramped, and I could hear a woman's voice singing some song that I had never heard. In all honesty, she was quite good. So good in fact that I'd nearly forgotten that I had just died. Perhaps this is heaven? Angels singing to me peacefully for eternity.

But no, surely a place like heaven wouldn't be so cramped. Not to mention the voice's sound is muffled; if this were truly an angel singing to me it ought to be clearer and, well, angelic. This woman sounded more like she were singing show tunes.

As she went through her song she hit a sour note and stopped, giving what sounded like a frustrated sigh, "Not again, I can never get that note right…" Clearing her throat, she tried again, this time hitting a note far more pleasant with the help of a very cheap-sounding piano. So, she spoke English. From the sound of her voice I could tell that she was a central American, maybe from somewhere like Utah or California, possibly Wyoming.

I tried shifting my position, sitting up in the cramped space and my head brushed against something soft. Reaching my hand up I felt fabric hanging down. Lots of it. All different lengths and textures. Below me I felt smaller, harder objects. Some rough, some smooth, some even with a large spike. There was no mistaking it: I was in a closet. Most likely a woman's closet by the state of things, though it was difficult to tell in the dark.

Finally, I decided to try an experiment. If my memory serves and I had just been killed, then it could do me no harm. I couldn't die again, could I? I felt around and found the handle, shaking it a bit. It didn't open. At the sound, the woman stopped singing, most likely listening for another. So, I gave her one. I knocked on the door gently, so as not to startle the woman too badly.

She yelped in surprise and I heard a shuffling around. A drawer opening, metal against metal, and then cautious footsteps towards me. It seemed to take forever for her to get here and my position was getting painful, so I knocked again.

That did the trick. She opened the door and I squinted at the light as my eyes adjusted to my new surroundings. When I'd recovered, I rolled out the door and stood up. That's when I felt something cold and metal press against my neck.

"Who are you and how did you get in here," She demanded, holding a long gold dagger to my neck. Even from this position though, I could tell it was blunt. This was nothing more than a fancy letter opener. From her trembling hands, I deduced that she was not the type capable of harming another person, at least not on purpose. This was all for show.

I simply stared at her, assessing her character and my surroundings. She was in casual clothing; blue jeans and a t-shirt with a logo that said "Comic Con" on it. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and covered with a hat, but even from this angle I could see that it was very long. It looked soft. I had to fight the urge to reach out and touch it. In all honesty, she was very pretty. She wore no makeup, and had a small beauty mark just below her lip. Her eyes were big and dark. They were easily the most striking quality she had, although there wasn't any part of her that wasn't pleasing to look at. Maybe she really was an angel, even in such casual clothing.

The look on her face suggested she was terrified and confused. Understandable, given where she'd found me.

Looking around the room I saw that she was not very tidy. There was a massive stack of blankets, unfolded, sitting next to one of the two beds as if they had fallen off and she simply didn't feel like picking it back up. The other bed had no sheets or pillows and was simply covered in random objects. A jar of jam, a pencil case, a stack of what looked like music books, even a loaf of bread among other things. This told me that this room was meant for two people, but she was the only one occupying it. Her two desks were no better. They were covered in clutter. The floor was taken up by a suitcase sitting open, clothing scattered everywhere. In another corner was a different pile of clothes, sitting in a hamper. They looked purposefully separated. The ones on the floor must be clean. There were various shoes scattered about, the rest of which appeared to be what I had been laying on in her closet.

The room had no foul odor, however. In fact, she smelled rather sweet, which suggested that she was untidy, but not unclean. You wouldn't find anything rotting in here, luckily. Otherwise who knows what I could have been lying in a moment ago.

She pressed the knife harder against my throat, "I asked you a question, now answer it. How did you get in here, and how long have you been hiding in my closet?" Her voice sounded calm and collected, which directly contradicted her terrified face and shaking hands. This, plus the large book of Shakespeare on her desk and posters of musicals scattering the wall, suggested that this woman was an actress. I had to admit, she had the voice for it.

I placed my hands in my pockets and answered, mumbling as I normally do, "I honestly don't know. I woke up in there to the sound of you singing. My compliments on your abilities, you truly have quite a talent."

"Did you sneak in here last night during my roommate's party? Are you one of Sydney's friends?"

I shook my head, "I don't know anyone named Sydney. Last I remember I was in Japan. I thought I was dead. In fact, I'm certain I was." I left out the part about Shinigami and heart attacks. "When I woke up and heard you singing I thought you were some angel, but my cramped conditions destroyed that theory."

"Japan," she looked at me, confused, "You're a little far from home then. You're smack dab in the middle of the United States."

"Yes, I figured as much, based on your accent. Although, how I got here I am not entirely certain. There is a 3% chance that this is the afterlife, but I don't think that's the case."

She glared at me, "No, you seem pretty alive to me. Now get out of my room before I call the police."

I resisted the urge to laugh aloud. With my resources the likelihood that the police would hold me for more than half an hour was lower than just 0.5%. This woman had no idea that I was L. But out of curiosity, I decided to question her anyway. "Tell me, miss… "

"Ellie. Ellie May."

"Tell me Miss May, what do you know of the mass murderer known as Kira?" I studied her reaction. She looked at me like I was insane. This was a normal thing for people who haven't known me for years. Only Watari was capable of not being constantly surprised at the things I say and do.

"Kira? You mean the anime character Light Yagami from Death Note?"

Now it was my turn to be surprised. How did this girl, a college student by the textbooks and papers on her desk, know about the notebook? No one in the task force had ties outside of Japan, so the information could not have come from them. And how did she know about Light Yagami? I was the only one who even suspected him of being Kira. I was right of course, but then that Shinigami killed me before I could prove it. Perhaps there was more to her than meets the eye. "How do you know about the death note? Where did you hear Light Yagami's name?"

She rolled her eyes, "It's not exactly a secret. Death Note is a pretty popular anime. One of my favorites, in fact." She was suddenly cheery when talking about the subject, "L Lawliet is the best character in the whole thing, he's so wonderfully eccentric. I nearly cried when Rem killed him to save Misa. Mello and Near just aren't the same."

I practically went into shock. She not only knew about Light, she knew about Misa, Rem, Mello, and even Near. Worst of all she knew my real name. My eyes widened in fear, "This can't be right, you're talking as if we're characters in a story. How do you know my name?"

"Because they are," She said, rolling her eyes again. "Wait," She looked confused, "Your name? I don't have any clue what your name is." Then her face once again turned serious, as if just remembering I was an intruder. "Now I won't ask you again, get out of my room, and don't try anything funny." She slowly backed off, keeping the dagger pointed at me, allowing me room to get to the door.

I didn't leave. Instead I pulled one of her desk chairs out and sat on it in my usual way, trying to piece together everything that has happened. Could it be true that here I didn't actually exist? Perhaps when I died my soul was sent here, an alternate dimension, instead of moving on to the afterlife. Maybe this was what happened to people when they die, they get sent into another universe until they die again? But no, that wouldn't work, I am the same age as I was when Rem killed me, if this happened to everyone what about those who died of old age? Perhaps it had something to do with the unnatural way people die when having been written into the death note. I pressed my thumb to my lips in thought, finally accepting the truth. As the saying goes, I am not in Kansas anymore.

If this was true, and I was now 92% certain that it was, I would need help from someone who lives in this world. Preferably someone who knew all about what Death Note was in this world. Someone like Ellie May.

I looked up to see her staring at me, seething, "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear," she was no longer scared of me. In fact, she was a bit frightening when angry. "Get. Out." She grabbed me by the ear and started dragging me to the door. It hurt more than I thought it would.

I swatted her hand away and rubbed at my now aching ear, "That really hurt," I mumbled to her.

She stopped and her expression changed. She looked me over curiously, studying my hunched posture and wild hair. "What's your name?"

"You already know my name," I explained, "If you promise not to tell anyone I'll say it aloud to you."

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes defensively, "Fine. Unless you do something and I end up turning you in to the police of course."

"I assure you that won't be necessary. I am L Lawliet."

She merely stood there, seemingly unphased. "It's an impressive cosplay, I'll give you that. Accurate even down to the bags under his eyes. But L is a fictional character. I may be open-minded but I'm not an idiot."

So, she didn't believe me. I expected as much. Even I'm still having trouble believing that I'm here. "What if I were to prove it to you?"

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrows skeptically, "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

So I told her everything I knew about her based only on the things in the room, making sure to thoroughly explain my thought process and how I deduced so much about her. The longer I spoke the more convinced she seemed. What really seemed to prove myself were the little things that no one else apparently knew. Things that she hadn't considered important enough to tell anyone. After a few minutes of this I finished and she stared at me with an open mouth.

"Okay, so let's say I do believe you," she sat down in the other desk chair, positioning it across from me. "If you really are _the_ L Lawliet, then how did you get here?" She leaned back in her chair and I noticed with interest that her fingers did the same thing with her lips when she was thinking as mine did. Looks like we have something in common.

"I was wondering that myself. I'm thinking it may have something to do with the notebook, and the way that I was killed."

Her eyes softened at that, almost to what looked like pity. "I'm sorry about that," she said softly. "What's it like… You know, to die?" She looked at me with gentle curiosity. There were those big dark eyes again.

I thought about it, bringing my memory back to the searing pain in my chest, and the fear unlike anything I had ever felt. "It was strange. At first I was terrified, knowing that Kira had won, seeing the look of cruel triumph in Light Yagami's eyes. But then it was strangely calming. After the pain of the heart attack had subsided, it was a lot like falling asleep." I placed my hands on my knees and stared at Ellie intently. "That is until I woke up in your closet and you held a knife to my throat."

"I'd apologize," she said to me, a hint of sass in her tone, "but I'm sure you understand why I'd be cautious about finding some guy hiding in my closet. Especially when the window is closed and my door has been dead bolted all day. I was worried you'd been in there all night, watching me or something."

"No, I can assure you, you discovered my presence here only moments after I had woken up." Apparently, Ellie has a bit of fire in her. "Now, that you know who I am, one question remains. Do you know what that is?"

She nodded and said exactly what I had been thinking from the start, "What do we do now?" She looked at me and her head tilted to the side, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. "Hey, are you okay?"

It was only then that I realized I was shaking. Even for me this was a lot to take in. Everything I knew was suddenly tossed aside, and now I must survive in this new world. I fought back a sob when the magnitude of the situation crashed down on me all at once. It was not like me to cry. I needed to remain calm and think this through. I could not break down; it simply wouldn't help the situation. What I wouldn't give for a chocolate covered strawberry right about now…

I realized Ellie had grabbed a large quilt and was tossing it over my shoulders. It was oddly comforting, despite the room not being the slightest bit cold. But what really shocked me was when she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a gentle hug. She smelled sweet, like fruit or candy. I was not often offered such displays of affection, so it felt odd and unfamiliar to me. I stiffened at her touch, not entirely sure how to react.

"Don't worry, it's going to be okay." She muttered softly to me. She must have noticed how distressed I was at all this. Perhaps I was not as good at keeping calm as I'd hoped.

We stayed like that for a few moments. Then, to my disappointment, she pulled away and looked me in the eyes, her gaze intense and full of purpose. "I'll help you as best I can. But legally you can't stay here for more than 3 nights in a row. We'll need to find somewhere for you to live until we can decide what to do."

I felt a smile creep over my features, "That," I said, "you can leave to me."


	3. Restless

Hello, readers! (Yes, all 3 of you.) I just wanted to say thanks for reading this. I'm still not sure where I want to go with this story so if you have any opinions on where I should take it, please make them known.

Review and tell me what you think, I love feedback!

[P.S. _Anyone who is still waiting for an update on my Moana fic, don't worry, I haven't abandoned it. I've just been lacking motivation_.]

Shout out to _Sano Sauro_ for the first review. 3

* * *

Ellie May's P.O.V.

I went into the kitchen to grab the chocolate cake I had made the night before. If I remember correctly, L had quite the sweet tooth. I still was having trouble believing it, but how else could he have found out about my mild obsession for hand lotion? It's not something important enough for me to ever have mentioned, and yet he knew. Only someone hyper observant like L would be able to find that out.

Normally I'd be wary of some random guy showing up in my closet, claiming to be a fictional character, but something – and I can't explain what – made me trust him. It's like he was meant to be here for some reason. I always try to trust my instincts, as they have never once let me down. If my intuition says that this man is L, then this man is L. Not that I'm complaining. He's way cuter in person than he was on the anime, and that's saying something.

To my annoyance, L made sure to eat every bit of fruit I had left before he decided to head out to find a place to live. I offered to go with him, but he insisted on going by himself. If he were anyone else I'd be worried, but evidence has proven that L Lawliet was perfectly capable of handling himself.

I tried asking where he planned to go, but he just said he "had something to do" that was apparently super important. Although what he could possibly have to do in a world where until a few hours ago he hadn't even existed was beyond me. Of course, I'm sure a lot of things that go through his head would make no sense to me. I'm smart enough, but I'm no genius. My talents lie in the fine arts, not subterfuge or deductive reasoning.

While he was out I brought the cake back into my room. It was in a glass pan and had been kept moist with a lid. This ought to keep L happy until I could make some other sweet. Maybe I'll finally make those Oreo truffles I've been intending to do.

I sighed. I can't feed him for long, I can barely afford my own groceries, let alone meals for two. Especially with L's appetite. I could remember him munching on something in almost every scene. I've been living off my parents, relying on them to feed me until a job opens up. It's hard to find employment here as this city is both overpopulated as well as a college town. Until then I had no source of income other than that which my parents grant me.

Suddenly I realized something: I would be having a guest over, and my room was a disaster! The suitcase from my last road trip was still on the floor, I had bras hanging from my closet handle, my bed was in shambles, and I don't even want to start on the condition of my desks. I don't mind clutter, but if this room was going to house a second person we'd need more space to move around. I was the only one capable of successfully traversing the minefield that is my floor. L might step on something and cut his foot. I had to clean up before he got back.

I spent the next hour just trying to properly tidy up. I honestly should have been studying for my test tomorrow, but let's be honest, I wouldn't have done that either way. I was just shoving the last of my shirts into my overly full closet when I heard a knock on my window. I opened the blinds to reveal that it was L.

I opened the window so he could hear me, "Hey. Head over to that door, I'll come out and let you in." I pointed to the nearest entrance. He couldn't get into the building without a key, so I had to let him in myself.

He nodded and walked off in the direction I indicated. I grabbed my key card so I wouldn't get locked out. I hated when that happens. Exiting my dorm room, I opened the West doorway and let my strange new friend inside. I was surprised to see he was still barefoot. "Did you just walk all around town without shoes on?"

"Yes," he responded in his regular mumble, "I never really liked shoes. Plus, I don't actually have any here."

I nearly smacked myself. He didn't even have shoes. I could have at least offered him my flip flops to borrow until he got some of his own. He could get hurt without something on his feet. "You didn't get cut did you," I asked, concerned.

"No, I'm perfectly alright." and with that he walked down the hall and back into my dorm room.

Social, isn't he. He might be even weirder than I am.

I shrugged and followed behind him. "So, where did you go for so long? Did you do what you needed to get done?"

He noticed the chocolate cake that I had placed on the spare bed in my room. Picking it up, he shoved a forkful in his mouth and answered, "Yes, I did. I can move in to my new house the day after tomorrow." He swallowed and shoveled another large piece into his mouth, "By that time the security system should be in place. I bought out the building so there will be no need to pay rent."

Hold on, did he just say he bought a house? "How could you possibly afford to buy an entire building _and_ have a security system installed?" I stared at him, my mouth gaping wide open.

He merely looked at me with his intense black eyes, "the same way I funded all of my investigations."

"But you don't have the same resources here; whatever money you had isn't in this world," I argued, not understanding how even he could pull off such a feat.

He smiled his small, odd smile at me mischievously, "I still have the same skills and knowledge."

What was that supposed to mean? Did he know of some way to make buckets of money in mere hours, or was he not as law-abiding as I thought? Either way, something told me I didn't want to know.

He suddenly seemed to realize something and looked around the room with mild surprise on his face, "you cleaned," he observed.

I rolled my eyes, "No, it was the troll maids who live under the carpet." For someone who's entire purpose was to notice small detail he could sure be unobservant.

He looked at me blankly, "No need to be sarcastic, I was merely noticing. You didn't have to go through all this effort on my behalf."

"Would you rather I put everything back the way it was?" I challenged.

"That's quite alright," he took another bite of cake, "This room is rather spacious when it's clean."

I glared at him, but silently agreed. I really should keep things cleaner. Peeking at my alarm clock I realized it was now 12:13 am. Had I really been up this long? The weight of the day came crashing down on me all at once. "I didn't realize how late it was," I yawned, "we should probably get to bed."

L didn't answer. He merely peeked at the alarm clock and then continued to stare at me blankly. I had to admit, as unnerving as it was, I liked how soft his eyes could be while still remaining intense and mysterious. It was fascinatingly beautiful. Maybe it was part of who he was, or maybe it had to do with him being an anime character. In any case, it was hard to look away.

I pulled some pajamas out of my drawer and handed them to him, "You can use these if you want." I held them out for him to take.

"No thank you. My current clothing is comfortable enough," he stayed sitting with his feet on the chair, his thumb absentmindedly fiddling with his bottom lip. That was something that always amused me about L; I did the exact same thing.

"Alright," I turned away and opened the door, "I'm going to get dressed in the bathroom. I'll be right back."

He nodded and I walked down the hall into the restroom, changing into sweat pants and an old t-shirt. My mind went rampant with questions. Why was he here? How is he alive? Is there any way to get him back where he belongs? Does he even want to go back? Do I want him to go at all?

What was I thinking? Of course I wanted him to go. I couldn't exactly let him sleep on my spare bed forever. Besides, what would he do in this world? Would he recreate the detective he was and make another 'L' in this dimension, or would he simply rot away in boredom at the lack of interesting cases? Even if he wanted to, would he be able to stay here? What if it's like in those movies where if he stays too long he fades away into nothing? I wouldn't know what to do to save him.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, "It's fine," I said aloud to myself, "It'll all be fine. We'll just take this one day at a time."

Dressed and ready for bed, I hopped onto my mattress without looking. That was a mistake.

"Ouch! Lawliet, what are you doing?"

He was sitting in his weird position again, only this time he had moved from the chair to the foot of my bed. "I was assessing the security of the room from different angles and found this spot to be especially comfortable." He looked at the window on the wall by my bed, "Although if someone were to break in, this is the most vulnerable place to be."

"Greeeeaaaat." As if I weren't already stressed enough, now I know that I'm sleeping in the most dangerous place in the room. Thanks a lot, L.

He hopped off the bed and moved to the light switch, "Would you like me to turn out the lights?"

"Yes please. Just stay on the other side of the room unless I can properly see you. And don't even think about trying anything."

He flipped the switch and the room went dark, "You don't need to worry. I won't allow any harm to come to the only friend I have in this world."

I froze, stunned. He already thought of me as a friend? He wasn't the type to hand out friendship to just anyone. Plus, he had only known me for a day.

I was suddenly very aware of where he was in the room, even with the lights out. His footsteps, though lighter than most people's, echoed in my mind. The creaks of the mattress rung in my ears as he settled into the bed on the opposite side of the room. His friend?

I smiled to myself if the dark as consciousness slowly slipped away from me.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of screaming. Startled and terrified, I grabbed my knife and turned on the lamp by my bed, ready for a fight.

There was nothing there. L, was having some sort of nightmare, rolled into the fetal position and writhing about. I put my blade down and rushed over to him. "L… L…," No answer. I shook his shoulder, "Lawliet, wake up!" His eyes shot open and he jumped, his screams replaced with terrified gasps. He gasped for air and clutched at his chest as if he were in pain. "Are you okay?"

He looked at me and seemed to calm him down, but his eyes remained wide and fearful. "The Shinigami…" He said, "They're coming here."

"It's okay, calm down, it was just a nightmare," I tried to console him

He shook his head, "No, I heard them, they said they were coming."

It was odd seeing him like this. He reminded me of a frightened child, claiming there was a monster in the closet. I sighed, "Alright, we'll talk about it in the morning okay?"

He deflated, his eyes falling from my face to the blankets below him. Finally, he nodded his consent and returned to sitting in his usual position. I couldn't help but ask, "Why do you sleep like that? It can't be comfortable."

By now he had regained his composure. His voice had lost all traces of panic. He seemed to be in complete control again. "I often stay up late thinking and simply fall asleep like this. If I were to sit normally it would- "

"Decrease your deductive skills by 40%," I interrupted, remembering the time when Light had asked him the same question.

"Yes. At this point I've sort of gotten used to it." He brought his thumb to his lip again, picking at it gently.

"Well you're not staying up any later, it's 3:00 in the morning. Lie down properly and get some sleep." I used my best no-use-arguing voice to try and convince him. I knew very well that he was an insomniac, but I also knew that you could literally die if you didn't sleep. L had already died once, no need to do it again.

"Yes ma'am." He looked surprised at my giving him orders, but obeyed nonetheless. He crawled under the covers somewhat awkwardly, as if he'd never used a proper bed before, and laid down on the pillow. Not long after I had turned out the light I heard quiet snoring coming from his side of the room.

As I drifted off I couldn't help but wonder what exactly he'd meant by the 'Shinigami coming here…'


	4. Something in the Closet

This chapter is a bit longer and contains some fluff. Enjoy!

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V

I had the exact same dream immediately after falling asleep again. This time, however I decided not to allow myself to start screaming. I must remain calm. This is far more than just a dream; I must find out everything that happens.

I found myself looking over a rotting landscape, covered in grey sand and sharp rocks. The air was eerily still and reeked of death. There was no defined source of light, yet I could see perfectly. Somehow I knew exactly where this was: The Shinigami realm.

Slowly, one by one, horrific creatures formed a circle around a human figure. Each one was tall and frightening, but they all looked completely different. One looked as if it were made of gold and jewels, while another appeared to be a giant looming shadow that had taken form and grown spikes. Each one looked like a different kind of nightmare.

Once they had all arrived, there was still a gap in the circle. From there a large, ornate throne came up out of the sand. Sitting on the throne was the largest, most terrifying Shinigami of all. Growing out of his head was a crown that looked remarkably similar to the skeletal structure of human hands. His eyes were hollow and his mouth stretched all the way across his pale, bony face into a menacing, sharp-toothed grin.

Standing in the center was none other than Light Yagami.

"Human, I'm sure by now you are aware of your own death," the Shinigami king began. "As Ryuk has no doubt told you, because you have used the notebook you can neither go to heaven nor to hell. You have proven yourself to be quite a remarkable specimen. And as a reward for this, we will allow you one request. You may even ask to become a Shinigami yourself, if you wish."

Light grinned, his eyes cold and calculating. "So you're saying I can ask for anything?"

"To an extent."

"Alright. But before I decide, is it true that the universe I was born in is only one of many?"

One of the other Shinigami answered, "Yes. The human realm has several different dimensions. The world you call home is not the only one that exists."

Light nodded, satisfied. "Then I desire the ability to travel between worlds. I will not only be the god of my own world, but of thousands of worlds beyond. The name Kira will be worshipped in temples and churches in every single dimension by the time my work is done!"

"Is that truly what you want?" the Shinigami king asked.

Light's eyes practically glowed red as he grinned menacingly, "Yes."

"Then so be it. We will join you on your mission to cleanse these worlds."

The other Shinigami started shrugging and nodding in bored agreement. One heckled out, "It's not like we've got anything better to do."

The one the king had referred to as Ryuk started laughing. "This is going to be so interesting."

* * *

I woke up to the sound of Ellie humming some soft tune to herself. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up, scratching an itch on my scalp. She was brushing her long hair and looking at something on her laptop.

Looking over, she spotted me stirring. "Oh, good morning." She offered me a tired smile and yawned, "did you sleep well?"

I sat back up into my favorite position. "Not particularly," I mumbled, "Then again I never have."

She simply nodded, obviously sleepy. Perhaps I was partially responsible for that. I did wake her up in the middle of the night. "Hey, I've been thinking," she started, "Since I have class, you should stay here and study up on your anime. It's on Netflix, you can watch it on my laptop while I'm gone."

Now that was certainly an interesting idea. It made sense; it'd help me to know what I'm dealing with. I would be able to learn what I was to this world, as well as exactly how much Ellie knew about me. I nodded, "I think that would be the best course of action at this point in time."

"Perfect," Ellie smiled, "I'll set it up. I don't have class for another two hours so we can watch the first few episodes together if you want."

"If you would like to," I agreed. She could shed some light on what is to come. My mind went back to the dream I had last night. Something seemed off about it. It's possible that it was simply a nightmare. Or could it be some sort of warning? Even if it were, it doesn't explain how I ended up in Ellie May's closet. At some point, I would need to find out how I got here and how I could get back home.

Home. Would I be able to go back? Even if could, the last thing that happened there was my death; if I somehow were to find a way back would I become nothing more than a corpse? The people who knew who I was would undoubtedly be surprised to see me again if I were to survive the trip, especially Light Yagami.

And what about Ellie? Honestly I don't know what to do about that. The best thing for her would likely be to remain in her own world, but with her knowledge of the Death Note she could be of great help. Plus, I like her, she's good company. It's not often I find someone I can honestly say I am friends with.

There's something about her though… Why did I land here, of all places? I could just as easily have ended up in the middle of the ocean, or under a bridge. Instead, I ended up in the home of someone who not only knew who I was and was willing to help me, but they likely knew more about the notebook than I did. The odds are about a 0.0002% that I could end up in these conditions. It's simply too convenient. Could it be that this was no accident? Was I sent here by some unknown being?

I was interrupted by my train of thought when Ellie hopped onto the bed next to me, placing a laptop with a brightly colored case in front of us. "Okay, so the first few episodes tell you a lot about the notebook and how it works," she explained, "You don't come in until the second."

She opened the MacBook and put in her password. Although she typed quickly I was able to follow her fingers and see the password; that may prove useful at a later date. She pressed play and wrapped a blanket around both of our shoulders, settling into a position until she was satisfied. She sat on her hip with both legs tucked to the same side, leaning on her hand for support.

The screen showed flashes of Light Yagami with red hair and eyes. A Japanese song played. One of the shots that was particularly interesting to me was one of Light standing high on a pedestal overlooking the city, and I stood on another one across from him. We appeared to be having a stare down. Apparently, the animators decided to give me blue hair and blue eyes in this shot, obviously to contrast with Light's red imagery. The introduction came to a close and the words "Death Note" appeared onscreen in front of a large white cross.

I grabbed the cake from last night and decided to finish it, picking at it with my fingers. Ellie had the same idea, and we munched on the treat as I finally learned how Light had come across the notebook. When Ryuk came on the screen my eyes widened in shock. That was the same Shinigami from my dream… But I hadn't seen him before. How could my subconscious know the name and face of a Shinigami I had never before met or heard of? This was evidence to support the theory that what I saw last night was far more than a nightmare. I considered telling Ellie, but decided it would be best to wait. For now, I would see how things unfolded.

Several episodes in I noticed that Ellie hadn't left. "I thought you said you had class," I commented, not taking my eyes off the screen that, oddly enough, showed my own face. It was all so strange to see and hear yourself in this way. It's like someone had watched my every move. It made me wonder if something similar was happening in another universe somewhere. Perhaps there is another world where I'm still fictional. Maybe a movie, another anime, or even a book. Could it be that somewhere I was nothing more than words on a page?

"I do, but I should be fine missing a day. How often does someone get to watch an anime with their favorite character?" As soon as she'd said that she looked embarrassed. "I mean-" I watched, curious as she stumbled over her words, "Well, what I meant was…" She sighed, "Nevermind, forget I said anything."

Interesting. So, I was her favorite character from Death Note. That means I can likely count on her as an ally. It was still strange to think of myself as anything but a real person, let alone an animated character. And yet it was oddly satisfying to know that Ellie liked me enough to call me her favorite. It was certainly comforting to see that she clearly had no shortage of disdain for Light; that told me she is not the type to be a Kira supporter.

We watched all the way up to episode 24. But just before episode 25 was about to start, Ellie paused it and closed her laptop. I looked at her, wondering why she would stop now.

She frowned, "Lawliet, we've been watching for 8 hours straight, we really should eat something other than cake. And I think you know what comes next."

It wasn't hard to deduce that we were nearing the point of my death. It must happen in the next episode, judging by her reaction. "Yes," I replied, "Now that we are nearly caught up to what I remember, episode 25 must be the one where Kira wins."

She nodded, her face grim and sheepish. "You don't have to watch it if you don't want to. We can skip this episode?"

But that wouldn't do. I needed to know every detail. "No," I replied, "It's important that I don't miss anything. The key to how I ended up here may very well be in episode 25. I'd say there's at least a 4% chance that watching it will be beneficial."

She sighed, "Fine. But we're still taking a break to go eat something. It's almost 4:00 in the afternoon and all we've had is sugar. If I ate like you I'd end up morbidly obese." She slid off the bed and stretched her arms high above her head. "Besides," she continued, "If you can afford a house and a security system, then you can certainly afford to take me out to eat. How does hibachi sound?"

She was right about that. After I had contacted a certain government agency and told them a few things they found of extreme interest, I once again had enough money to last a lifetime. If I invest it well I may even get back to where I was financially in my own world. For the time being, however, several million American dollars would have to do.

"If that is what you wish," I agreed. A hibachi dinner didn't sound too bad. At least it'd be something familiar.

"Great! You can use my flip flops. I doubt they'd let you in barefoot." Ellie went over to the closet and was about to open it when she stopped and looked at me, thinking. "You know," she said, "we should probably get you some new clothes too. You can't live in the same outfit; you'll have to wash it eventually."

I looked down at my – now very wrinkled – white shirt, "yes I suppose you're right."

At that she smiled – which revealed a single dimple on the right side of her face – and opened the closet door.

When she looked inside she gasped, "What the fudgenuggets happened to my closet!?"

Fudgenuggets? Was that a common word here or just something Ellie said?

"What's wrong," I asked, only mildly curious, picking up my fork from the night before with my thumb and forefinger to fiddle with it.

She pointed downward to the shoes I had been sitting on the day before, "Look," she bent down and picked up a tall leather boot, "everything is covered in sand." She dumbed the boot out and a bucketful of sand poured out. Ellie did not look pleased.

That got my attention. My eyes snapped up to her face. "What color is it?"

She looked at me incredulously, "What color? Is that what you're concerned about?"

"Yes. It may be important in understanding how I got here. Remember when Ryuk gave Misa the apple from the Shinigami realm? It was made of sand. And when Rem told the story of how to kill a Shinigami, she told of how he too turned to sand." I remembered the grey landscape I had seen in my dream. That had been sand as well. "So, what color is it?"

She picked up a different shoe, this one being a very sparkly black high heel, "here, see for yourself."

She handed the shoe to me and I held it in my thumb and forefinger, examining it. I noted that Ellie is a size nine and a half. Inside the shoe was a very fine, grey sand. The same dusty material that had I had seen in my dream. There was no mistaking it: this was from the Shinigami realm. It had not been there when I first woke up in the closet, which means that it had gotten there sometime after I arrived. The only time I was not in this room, Ellie had been here cleaning. That means the only way it could have gotten there was if the closet had something to do with the way to travel between worlds.

I stood up and examined what I could see. There wasn't much other than sand that looked like it didn't belong. I needed a better look. "Ellie, please remove your belongings from the closet."

She gave me a questioning look, but obeyed nonetheless. I noticed how she had enough shoes to fill a store, and quite an impressive variety of coats. The closet was jam packed with them.

When she had finished pulling out all her belongings, all that was left was an empty closet coated in sand. There was nothing else out of the ordinary. "hmmm… Nothing." I mumbled myself, a bit disappointed.

"Lawliet, what does this mean?"

I didn't have time to answer because someone knocked on the door. Ellie jumped, spooked by our discovery and startled at the noise. "Who is it," she called to the person behind the door.

"Ellie, we're having a roommate meeting," a female voice called back to her.

"Okay, I'm coming."

That seemed to satisfy the voice and I heard footsteps walking away. Ellie took a deep breath, calming herself. "I gotta go. Here," she picked up a pair of flip flops with little emoji's on them, "you can wear these for now."

I took them from her and watched as she tried to find a pair that hadn't been completely covered in sand. She found a worn-out pair of Vans that didn't look too bad and slipped them on. I decided just to hold the flip flops until I absolutely had to wear them. I preferred to be barefoot.

She grabbed a pink overcoat and put it on, sticking her phone and wallet into the pockets. "Alright, let's go. Once the roommate meeting is over we'll head out. Sound good?"

I nodded and followed her out into the living-room-slash-kitchen. There were five other girls congregating around a large counter. One was extremely tall with dark hair highlighted with light colored streaks. Another was petite and blonde, dressed in pastel colors. She appeared to be very passive, allowing the others to do as they wished. Two of them were blonde as well and looked like siblings. They acted very dominant. I deduced that these two thought they were in charge, but from the behavior of the others, they were not well liked. The fifth was also blonde, leaving Ellie as the only one with pure brown hair. This fifth person appeared to be well respected among the others, but was particularly close with the tall one.

They all looked at us as we walked in. From the behavior of the group, I could tell that Ellie was the odd one out. A black sheep, if you will. She was not disliked, but not particularly loved either. They mostly avoided paying her any attention. She seemed perfectly content with this, as it was evident that she would rather have been anywhere else.

When she walked to one of the chairs and sat down, her roommates all stared at me. I, however, was used to this. I am well aware of my odd appearance.

"Guys, this is my friend, Lawrence. He'll be staying with us until tomorrow. Lawrence, these are my roommates." Ellie introduced me, inventing a new alias for me to go by.

"Hi," the tall one greeted me, attempting to look like she wasn't disturbed by my strange appearance.

"Nice to meet you," I mumbled in their general direction as I chose a seat on the couch. They all gawked at my odd way of sitting.

"Ellie," one of the two siblings started, "You didn't tell us your guest was a guy." She was obviously unhappy about it.

Ellie had no patience for this one apparently, as she subtly glared and matched the blonde woman's tone, "I am breaking no rules by having him here. I informed you of his presence as per the roommate agreement."

There was clearly some petty feud between these two.

My thumb fumbled with my lip as I watched them talk. They all seemed wary of me, but the petite one in particular looked visibly uncomfortable at having me there. The rest of the conversation was not at all interesting. Arguments about the temperature of the room, the condition of the bathrooms, and the need to do dishes. Ellie kept sneaking me glances, showing how annoyed she was at the whole thing.

When their meeting finally ended, Ellie's mood had significantly decreased. Clearly she disliked talking to these people. Her roommates dispersed to their respective rooms, each avoiding making eye contact with me.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked, turning to me.

I stood up, shoving one hand comfortably into my pocket while the other held the slippers she had given me. She opened the door, following closely behind as I walked out.

When we got outside Ellie stopped and leaned against the building. She huffed, "They are so infuriating to deal with! Did you see how they loved to play the blame game, always directed at me. Even when I had nothing to do with their issues, they somehow made it my fault. 'You didn't do enough dishes, Ellie.' 'You need to clean the bathrooms, Ellie.' 'There's food stuck in the burner, Ellie, it must be your fault.' Ugh! I can't wait to move out of here. Then I never have to talk to them again."

"Yes, they do seem to target you more often than the others," I muttered agreement. Fortunately for her, she wouldn't have to live there much longer. I made sure to buy a large building, she'd have her own floor high on a hill overlooking the entire town once everything was settled. Because of the sand we found in her closet I've concluded that it is no longer safe for her to remain in that room. It could very well be something far worse than sand next time.

She deflated. "Alright, I'll call a car or something. I think I saw a flyer about a taxi service, we can get to the restaurant that way."

"That won't be necessary." I started walking away towards the vehicle I had acquired while I had been out.

"Where are you going? We can't walk, it'd take nearly an hour," she remained rooted to her spot, typing away at her phone.

I didn't answer. She'd eventually follow me. Sure enough, she growled in annoyance, but followed nonetheless. "L, where are you going? The restaurant is that way." She pointed in the other direction, trying to get me to follow her.

Soon she'd had enough. "L Lawliet, you answer me right now, or so help me I'll… I'll… I'll glue shoes to your feet while you sleep!" She stomped on the ground childishly.

I stopped and turned around, taking in her small tantrum. She was glaring daggers at me. I merely looked at her. "Would you rather I drive, or you?"

Now she just looked confused. "What?"

"A house was not all I managed to get a hold of while I was out." With that I turned pulled a car key out of my pocket and pushed the remote button. Behind me a black 2017 ford mustang beeped, confirming its location.

Ellie's jaw dropped. "What… How?" was all she managed to get out.

I didn't feel the need to answer, so I just repeated my question, "Would you like to drive, or shall I?"

Her eyebrows raised, not even trying to mask how impressed she was. I don't see why she should be. It hadn't been particularly difficult to get my hands on.

"I can't drive a stick shift," she responded.

"Very well. In that case, I'll drive." I climbed into the driver's seat and turned on the car. The engine roared. Honestly, it was pointlessly loud.

Ellie May opened the passenger side and climbed in, her mouth still slightly open. "Okay, I don't normally swear," she said, "But damn, Lawliet. This is the sexiest car I've ever seen." For some reason, I was flattered by this.

"Hold on," she looked at me, "do you even have a license?"

"No."

She looked at me for a second, but eventually shrugged. "Fine, just don't get pulled over."

The likelihood of that was at a mere 7%. "Which way?" I asked.

"Pull out of the parking lot and take a left."

She directed me to a place called Ninja. Inside was a tank full of koi fish and there were various paintings scattering the walls. The lighting had a red-ish tint to it and the air smelled of sushi. A man at one of the tables was about to propose. I deduced this by his nervousness and the small square object hidden in his pocket. He was a very poor actor.

A worker led us to a table connected to a large metal slab. That is where the hibachi chef would cook our meal.

"Sir," a waitress walked up to me, clearly unhappy. "Sir would you please put shoes on? It's a house rule; no shirt, no shoes, no service."

Ellie looked at me pointedly as she handed over the pair of flip flops that I had forgotten in the car. I put them on my feet and sat in my chair like I normally do. This granted me no shortage of dirty looks from the hostess and surrounding guests. Ellie simply giggled, obviously amused at the whole scene.

Her laugh was pleasant. It almost distracted me from the problem at hand. How am I to get home? And more importantly, was it truly just a dream? It's that closet… The closet is the key. There must be something in there that could give us insight as to what was going on. There's no way my arriving in the same place as the sand is a coincidence.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I realized Ellie had been staring at me, smiling slightly.

"Yes? What is it?" I asked, a lock of hair falling in front of my eyes.

"Oh nothing," she replied, reaching up to brush it back into place, "It's just that it's been a while since I've gone on a proper date."

A date? I've never been on a date. Is this what a date was? I wasn't certain how to respond to this, so I merely stayed silent, watching her face in order to assess her behavior. She simply looked back at me, her dark eyes watching mine just as intently. Once again it hit me how very pretty she was. I almost didn't notice when she began to lean closer, and yet I felt compelled to do the same.

Our trance was broken when the hostess arrived to take our orders. Ellie ordered the most expensive item on the menu, and I got the same thing. Filet mignon and lobster tail, cooked right in front of us by a hibachi chef.

Throughout the entire meal my mind was uncharacteristically blank. This was not a situation I was familiar with. Each time I caught her looking at me my heart rate elevated, and my breathing shallowed. Something about the way she suppressed a laugh when I loudly slurped my tea made my lips turn up into a smile of their own accord.

I don't understand what's going on.


	5. New Arrival

Please review, good readers. It's very motivating to get feedback, especially on something you're putting your heart and soul into. I've been working hard on making this an interesting story and I plan for it to be very long, so help me out and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own L or anything else related to Death Note. Also, the brands and locations mentioned are not being promoted or anything I'm just using them for story purposes.

* * *

Ellie May's P.O.V.

It was funny to see all the other guests faces whenever L slurped his tea. Especially when they looked over to glare at him and saw how he held his cup with his thumb and forefinger and how he sat in his chair; they obviously couldn't decide how to react. There was even one guy at another table who was obviously about to propose, and he was so nervous that every time L took a particularly loud sip, the guy would practically jump out of his skin. Poor guy. I had to keep from laughing out loud several times.

Lawliet was smiling a lot more than usual today. I'm not sure what it was about, but who knows what goes on in that head of his. He is a genius after all. I'm still trying to figure out how he got a house, a car, and money enough to spare in only a matter of hours… But that's L for you.

I felt drawn to him. It was as if there was some invisible force pulling me closer like a magnet. The only thing keeping me from leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek was the food. It was… what's a better word for delicious? Divine? Exquisite? Oh, I've got it: Incomparable. Yes, that's it. The food was incomparable to any other, like it had been made from the hands of God himself. It may have helped that I was super hungry, but that's beside the point.

I was sad when everything had been eaten, but at least I was full. If heaven didn't have food like that, I'm not interested. As we were waiting for the check, proposal guy stood up and called out, "Excuse me everyone, I have something to say." His poor date looked ready to sink into the wall. Clearly she didn't like the attention.

He went on a short monologue about how much he loved his girlfriend. Apparently, her name was Season, but I tuned him out mostly. I only ever pay attention to things when they're important. L didn't seem to care much either, but he sat with his hands on his knees, watching proposal guy politely as he finally ended his speech and popped the question.

His date seemed stunned, but she nodded her head nonetheless. The rest of the restaurant clapped their approval and then returned to their respective conversations. The waitress brought us our check and we stood up to leave. L walked with his hands in his pockets, hunched over like usual. He'd end up with a hump when he gets old, there's no doubt about it.

L held open the door for me and I climbed into the car. "Okay," I said as he got into the driver's seat, "now we need to get you some clothes. There's a Walmart not far from here, let's go see if they have anything you like."

"I've never much cared for fashion," he mumbled with his calm and collected voice.

I rolled my eyes, "You know as well as I do that you need more than one set of clothing. I'm sure Walmart has plenty of plain white shirts and blue jeans." He pouted and I directed him to the store. We found a miraculously close parking spot.

"Men's clothing is this way," I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him along. He clearly disliked being around so many people. I made a mental note to get him set up with an Amazon account.

It didn't take long to find the jeans and plain T-shirts. Lawliet was in unimpressive shopper. I grabbed a pack of extra-long medium white T's and handed him a few different sizes of pants. "Here," I said, "go try these on and tell me which ones you like best."

He didn't take long. In just over a minute he reappeared from the dressing room wearing a fresh shirt and pants. He looked exactly the same. "Well," I said, "you look a lot cleaner. How do they fit?"

"Fine," he mumbled.

I shooed him back to the changing room and he got back into his original clothes. It was a bit weird to think that they had come from animation, just like he had.

Was everything from the Death Note capable of travelling here? I didn't want to have a literal skeleton in my closet. What if one of the dangerous convicts ends up here? All I'd have is a blunt dagger to defend myself once L left. Suddenly my dorm room seemed a lot more menacing.

Lawliet emerged again, this time carrying all the new articles of clothing. We went past check out and left. He was visibly relieved when we got back in the car. He pushed the flip flops off his feet and tossed them over his shoulder into the back seat. The car roared to life with an impressive purr. I'm not really in to cars, but hot dang, if L wasn't the sexiest human alive behind the wheel of this batmobile of a car, then I wasn't a woman.

I couldn't help but stare at him as he drove us home. His wild raven hair and overly-pale complexion went perfectly with the sleek black leather interior. His unnaturally black eyes were intense. What I wouldn't give to know what he was thinking right now.

When we got back to the dorm I scrolled through Facebook while Lawliet went to take a quick shower. 15 minutes later he reemerged, a towel placed over his head like a hat. He had changed into his new clothes, which I could only tell because they were cleaner. I could smell my vanilla-scented soap wafting off of him.

"Shall we continue?" he climbed onto the spare bed and tucked his feet underneath him, placing his hands on his knees.

I nodded and set up my laptop, sitting down on the mattress beside him. It took everything I had not to mess with his hair. But I only could restrain myself so much, and let my head rest on his shoulder as L's final episode began to play.

I could feel his shoulders tense up when Watari died. I knew this would be hard on him. If I had it my way, he wouldn't even see this episode. I'm pretty sure that being murdered via heart attack would be traumatizing, even for L.

He was shaking while he watched himself die. I couldn't let him relive this on his own, so I put all boundaries aside and grabbed his hand, giving him something to hold on to. That seemed to help, and he interlocked our fingers together, gripping my hand as if his life depended on it.

He was obviously spent by the time episode 25 was over, so I decided we'd start on the second arc later. He needed time to cope, whether he wanted to admit it or not. "That's enough," I said softly, "we can watch the rest tomorrow."

He didn't answer. Closing my laptop, I pulled him into a tight hug, "I'm so sorry, L."

Lawliet accepted the hug and held me desperately, trembling all over. My heart broke for him. I couldn't even imagine what he had gone through. How many people have to mourn for themselves?

We stayed like that for a while. I let L bury his face in my shoulder until he felt able to look up. When he did, his eyes bore in to mine. "Thanks," he muttered, quieter than usual.

My eyes involuntarily flicked to his lips. I wondered what they would taste like… Probably sugar, the way he eats. I was mildly aware of my leaning closer to him. We were only an inch apart when a loud pounding on my closet door. My heart skipped a beat and I nearly jumped out of my socks. "What was that," I whispered to him.

L stood up and moved to press his ear against the closet door. I scanned my eyes around the room, searching for my dagger: the only means of self-defense I possessed. I was rooted to the bed in fear as he slowly turned the knob.

He yanked the door open and a high-pitched yelp escaped my lips. Crumpled on the floor was an old man. He looked up at L and stood up, straightening his suit. Standing before us was none other than Watari.

He looked around at his new surroundings, his eyes lingering on me for a moment before coming to a rest on L. "Miyazaki," he politely bowed to him before looking back at me again.

"It's quite alright, Watari, she knows my true name. Here, however, refer to me as Laurence, just in case."

"As you wish, sir."

How did he get here? First Lawliet, then the sand, now this? What was happening? I looked to L, hoping for answers. Maybe he'd let me move into his new building, I didn't want to spend another night here.

Then I had an idea: my tent! I've got a small, two-person tent. We could camp out somewhere until L's new house was ready. It'd probably be safer than staying here.

"Hey, L…" I began, wondering how to word this without sounding improper, "Could I come with you in your new building? Things keep appearing in my closet, I couldn't fall asleep in this room again if I tried."

Lawliet tore his eyes away from Watari and looked at me. "I have no intention of leaving you in this room alone. When the sand appeared, it was evidence enough to convince me that this room is not safe. Your floor in my building is being prepared as we speak. For tonight, however, we will be staying in a hotel."

A wave of relief washed over me. So, I would be staying with L after all. With him I was certain that everything would be okay. Plus, now we had Watari; he'd not let harm come to me, L would make sure of that. I had the best security system in the world, and his name was Lawliet. A hotel meant I wouldn't need to use my tent either.

I felt myself smiling. I jumped up and practically tackled him, pulling him into a crushing hug. "Thank you," I squeaked in excitement. I was finally getting out of here. I reached up and pecked him on the cheek, then turned around to pack my suitcase.

I tossed a bunch of random clothes into a duffel bag, along with my chargers and headphones. I grabbed a few essentials and shoved them in as well. I was ready to go in under a minute.

When I turned around, L was staring at me, one hand gently touching the spot where I had kissed his cheek. He seemed almost stunned. I gave him a cheeky wink and grabbed my jacket, pulling it over my arms. "You coming?" I asked playfully, tossing him a backpack that I had filled with his new clothes.

He reached into his pocket and produced a key, handing it and the backpack to Watari. "Please bring the car around. You'll know which one it is." Watari nodded and exited the room, taking my duffel bag with him.

L and I were alone again. I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if Watari had arrived just a few minutes later.

"Do you have everything you need?" L asked.

"For tonight, yes."

"I'll send a moving crew over tomorrow to bring the rest of your things to the house." With that he walked out the door, not checking to see if I would follow. He knew I would.


	6. A Forgotten Tart

A guest reviewer asked how many chapters I had in mind and to be honest, I don't know. I have a story that will simply take a while to complete. I'm hoping that by the end of this it'll at least be novel length.

And to Natasha-Tenshi: Thanks! You're makin' me blush… :3

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did I wouldn't be a financially-struggling college student.

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

I told Ellie that there was only one room available in the hotel, but in truth I thought it was best not to leave her by herself; not with everything that was going on. Watari had gone to find his own place to spend the night. I told him Ellie was no threat.

I couldn't get the dream out of my head. At this point it was not a question of _if_ Kira was coming, but _when_. I would need to install surveillance cameras in Ellie's closet as soon as possible.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard singing coming from the shower. This song was significantly louder than the others had been, with a bit of a modern-pop sound to it. I listened as she sang happily.

By the time the song was over she had turned the water off. "Hey, L," She called, poking her head out the door, "Could you reach into my bag and grab some pajamas for me? I forgot to lay them out." I looked at her bed and saw a brightly-colored duffel bag, decorated with various animated characters. One of them was me.

I reached in and found a comically large yellow T-shirt and pink flannel pants. Were these pajamas? I only ever slept in my clothes. I held them up for her to see and she nodded, so I handed them over and she disappeared behind the door. My eyes lingered on the bathroom door where she had been.

She emerged wearing the clothes I'd handed her. They were far too big for her. She yawned, stretching out her arms. "Hard to believe it's only 9:00," She commented, unplugging her laptop from its charger, "it feels a lot later."

She sat down on one of the beds and opened the device, typing in a few characters. "Think you're ready to move on to the second arch?" She looked up at me, patting the bed next to her, signaling for me to sit beside her.

I complied, sitting down and pulling my knees up to my chest. She rested her head on my shoulder again, this time snuggling close to me far less cautiously than she had before. After a moment's hesitation, I lifted my arm up and draped it around her waist. Ellie didn't protest.

She pressed play and we spent the next 4 hours finishing Death Note. I was furious when Kira had taken control of my name, but satisfied when Near and Mello eventually figured him out. By the end of the season, Light Yagami had unraveled. His calm demeanor slowly deteriorated into madness and he eventually died.

"So," I commented, munching on a cookie I'd had brought up to our room. "Justice wins."

When Ellie didn't say I anything I looked over to see that she had fallen asleep. I closed her laptop and placed it on the bedside table, wondering the best way to deal with this. Her arms were wrapped around my torso and her head was still on my shoulder.

There was no way I could detach myself without risking waking her up.

Instead of chancing it, I decided to just stay where I was. She seemed perfectly content, but she had goosebumps on her arms. I lifted the blankets up and over our heads, encasing the both of us inside of a warm cocoon. She shifted, scooting closer to me. My stomach felt briefly tingly. That was not something I had experienced before. Perhaps I ate something.

I leaned back onto the pillows and stretched out my legs from their normal folded position. Sometime in the night I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew I was waking up. Ellie was still clinging to me, but I had apparently shifted in my sleep as well, because now I had my arm draped around her and I was holding her very close.

Something prevented me from moving, even as the room got gradually brighter with the sunrise. This was the most comfortable I had ever been; I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when she started waking up.

She stirred slightly, nestling further into the crook of my neck. I poked at her cheek, trying to wake her up. She groaned and swatted at my hand as if it were a fly. I poked her cheek again. This time she wrinkled her nose and squinted her right eye open. "What?" she grumbled.

"Morning," I greeted.

I sat up and she let go, protesting when I pushed the blankets back. "Gah, nooooo… why?" she complained, pulling them back over herself and rolling into a ball. "Mornings should not exist," her voice was muffled from under the blankets.

I changed into a fresh set of clothes, not bothering to go into the restroom. She would not likely emerge from the covers willingly.

I ordered for breakfast to be brought up to our room, making sure that they knew I wanted plenty of sweets. I had already finished the tray of cookies last night and I needed chocolate. I sat on the bed that I had originally intended to sleep in and pulled my knees up to my chest, once again resting my hands. I passed the time watching the lump of blankets that was Ellie toss and turn, trying to get comfortable again.

After a while she let out a long, drawn out groan, "I will never forgive you for waking me up so early."

There was a knock on the door, "Room service."

"I forgive you." She bolted up and tossed off her blankets, running to the door and gladly accepting the tray of food. She thanked the portly delivery woman and closed the door, locking the chain on the door. It was good to see she took security precautions.

I grabbed a strawberry and lifted it above my head, dropping into my mouth. The tart flavor exploded, leaving a sweet aftertaste. I grabbed another and moved on to the cookies. Ellie seemed more interested in the omelets. She ate mine, so I ate her slice of cake. She was not happy about that.

"Hey!" She glared at me.

I was not able to deduce what possessed me to do this, but when she reached up in a failed attempt to steal the last tart from me, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards me, pressing our lips together.

At first she was completely stunned, but after she recovered from the initial shock she relaxed. I pulled her closer and she kissed me back, abandoning the last tart and letting it fall to the ground, forgotten.

I released her wrist and wrapped my arm around her waist, cupping my other hand behind her neck. She responded by entangling her fingers in my hair. I breathed her in; Is this what I had been missing all those years when I was doing nothing but solving cases? Until now I'd never had a life outside of detective work. Now all those crimes of passion made a lot more sense to me. If someone were to harm Ellie there was a 30% chance that I'd end up becoming a murderer myself.

She silenced my thoughts by deepening the kiss and I gladly accepted. If it were possible to pull her closer I would have.

And then the phone rang.

Reluctantly – _extremely_ reluctantly – I pulled away and answered the phone, holding it with my thumb and forefinger like I usually do. "Yes," I answered.

It was Watari. This may be the first time I was annoyed to hear his voice. "Sir, your building is ready and the security system is properly installed."

"I see. Thank you, Watari. Please have all of Ellie's belongings moved into the top floor." I hung up the phone and turned to her, "Are you ready to go?"

She shook her head, "No, I need to get dressed. Give me five minutes."

I stood with my hands in my pockets as she busied herself about the room, packing various things into her bag. When she had gotten dressed and had everything ready she slung the sack over her shoulder and grabbed my hand.

"So," she asked, a playful grin on her face, "does this make you my boyfriend now?"

I thought for a moment, then responded, "Yes, I suppose it does." She smiled even wider and placed a peck on my cheek. I would have to get used to this. Displays of affection were new and unfamiliar to me.

She didn't relinquish her hold on my hand until we had reached the car. Watari was waiting in front of the hotel. He opened the door for us and we climbed in, allowing my trusted handler to take us to our new base of operations.

It wasn't too far from Ellie's dorm. This will be beneficial, seeing as we will need to return often enough to check her closet. There is at least an 82% chance – no, make that 83% – that something else will appear there.

Once again I wondered why the closet. Did it have something to do with Ellie? Is it possible that that place was chosen by some higher being? Perhaps her capturing my heart was no accident. After all, if it has been proven that gods of death exist, we can therefore not rule out the possibility that there are other intangible beings. And there was the rule which Ryuk told Light in one of the first episodes: Any human who has used the death note can neither go to heaven or hell. This suggests that heaven and hell both do exist, and by extension, there is a high probability that creatures such as angels may, in fact, dwell there. This only supports the theory that Ellie was sent to me – or more accurately, I was sent to her – for a purpose.

Assuming this is true, what could that purpose be? Did it have something to do with Kira? Or perhaps I was supposed to learn some sort of lesson from her. No, it must have to do with Kira, otherwise if the things appearing in her closet are indeed the intention of some higher being then the grey sand was undoubtedly a message, telling me to be ready when the Shinigami come.

If that's the case I'll need to be prepared. If my dream is more than a dream as I suspect it is, then Kira won't be alone this time; he will have an army of Shinigami behind him. If even one of them sees my face and catches wind of my intention to stop Kira then we'll have a repeat of episode 25.

Since Light Yagami knows who I am, if he sees my face he'll undoubtedly send one of the gods of death to finish me off. I'll need to think of another strategy to stop him. This time I know who he is. Clearly his death would not end anything, seeing as he already died, just as I have. And while I may be alone in this, he has the Shinigami on his side; they could just take his soul into whatever dimension he pleases. I must find some way to stop him from traveling between worlds. Without that capability, he can't hurt anyone else.

This is no longer a matter of gathering evidence; this is war. Good versus evil. And if I lose it means the end of mankind not only in this world, but in every world. More importantly it means the end of Ellie.

Ellie… Everything comes back to her. The last thing I want is to allow her to get involved in this, but she may be a key element in defeating Kira. Light Yagami does not know her name, and he has not seen her face. She knows all about him and how he kills. She could very well be the one to take him down once and for all.

Perhaps it was also no accident that she just happens to be an actor.


	7. Chess Champion

Please review! It genuinely helps keep me going, so if you like the story or think there's something I can improve, let me know. Otherwise it's hard to stay motivated.

Also, fun fact: I learned that Near and Mello were originally going to be L's sons, but they changed it to them being his successors instead because they couldn't imagine L having children. Now you know.

* * *

Ellie May's P.O.V.

It was every fangirl's dream to be whisked away by her favorite character, and I was living it. Jealous? You should be. L is a good kisser. Plus, he tasted like candy, and his hair was incredibly soft.

We pulled up to his new 'house' which was actually more like a mansion. It had three stories and the architecture was grand and modern. The driveway, which hid behind a massive iron gate, led its way through a small grove of trees arching over the pavement. It provided a lot of privacy, even as we were approaching the building. I didn't even know they had buildings like this around here, that's how well hidden it was. It would be interesting to know how Lawliet found this place.

I noticed a massive amount of security cameras. I was sure that there were plenty of lasers and sensors to go with them. If anyone was serious about security, it was L. I wondered if he'd have cameras through the whole of the house. He better not have put any in my room.

When we reached the end of the driveway we'd pulled up to a curved marble staircase that lead to an ornate wooden door. I couldn't help but notice it was missing a doorknob. Instead, in the center of the door was set a small device. L pressed his thumb to it and a doorknob appeared. I reached for it, but he grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"You don't want to touch that," he explained, "If anyone touches it it'll give them an electric shock and put the entire building on lockdown. It's to prevent imposters from using my fingerprint."

I gaped at him, unsure of what to say to that. Instead I just nodded, assuring him that I understood. He released my hand and instead reached up to pull away one of the door's decorative panels. It unhinged like a cabinet, revealing another type of device. L placed his eye in front of it and it flashed a bright light. I figured It must be a retinal scanner. This was some serious stuff. When the device had concluded that L was in fact L, the door opened on its own to allow us entry.

The inside was even grander than the exterior. The first thing I saw were two curved staircases circling a Greek-looking statue. They led upwards to a second floor. Above us hung a crystal chandelier, making the whole room shine. Everything was lined with a gold trim. I had to actively keep from letting my mouth drop open.

Watari disappeared the moment we entered the building, leaving me alone with my favorite person in the world. "So," I started, turning to face him, "where's my room?"

He looked upwards, "You will be living on the top floor. I will be on the second. If you need Watari for anything, he has taken to the basement. This area we are in now is where we will work to defeat Kira."

"Defeat Kira? But he's dead. He doesn't even exist here."

"I was dead too."

My face fell. I'd nearly forgotten. L must be expecting him to show up at any moment. I couldn't even imagine what it must be like to lie in wait for your murderer to come. That's why he has all the security. "I'm sorry," I looked down at my feet.

"There is no doubt that Kira will come. I have two rules: First, I am never wrong. Second, if I'm wrong… back to the first rule. The only thing we don't know is when and how he will arrive. My theory is that he will appear in your dorm room closet, just as Watari and I had. I am going to set up surveillance there to keep tabs on what is happening."

"But how can you be so sure that he's coming? Rem killed both you and Watari, then she turned into a pile of grey sand. Ryuk was the one who wrote Light's name in his death note, so the circumstances were completely different. Maybe that's all there is to it."

I am proud to say that L looked mildly impressed, if not slightly annoyed.

However, he also looked like he was hiding something. Then again, that could just be how his face perpetually was, it's honestly hard to tell.

"If you wish to be a part of this you're going to have to learn to trust me."

I desperately wanted to. My only qualm was that his character was often described as him being quite the liar. He was, by nature, dishonest. "I will if you promise me one thing."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

I took his hand and looked him directly in the eye, "Promise that you will never lie to me."

"If I do, will you promise me something in return?"

"Oh? And what would that be," I imitated him. My impression was hilariously spot on.

"Trust that everything I say and do are specifically to protect you. Do not question me if I ask that you leave something alone." His voice was dark and serious. I wondered what he could possibly mean by that.

I nodded my head, "Deal." I knew I'd regret this later. I was the type to be far too curious for my own good. But, for his sake, I'd have to refrain from asking too many questions. Just as long as he didn't get himself hurt in the process.

"Well, now that that's settled," I said, changing the subject, "Why don't you show me to my room. I'd love a tour." I latched onto his arm and let him lead me around the house.

To be frank, he was a terrible tour guide. Mostly he just walked through the rooms and didn't say anything. But at least I got a good idea of the layout. I was ecstatic to discover that this place had an indoor pool, as well as a home theatre. I knew where I'd be spending most of my time from now on.

When we reached my room I immediately started sifting through the boxes full of clothes that had mysteriously arrived before I did. I invited L to go swimming with me, and to my delight, he agreed. He left to let me change and I donned my favorite swimsuit and goggles.

By the time I found my way back to the pool, L was already there. Somehow he'd found time to buy a swimsuit. I wasn't even surprised anymore. What caught the majority of my attention though was Lawliet himself. He was thin, but not unhealthy. In fact, he seemed surprisingly fit. I found it difficult to avoid staring. That's when I remembered I was his girlfriend and I could stare at him all I want. Aw, yes. Life was good.

I made my way to the diving board at the deeper end of the pool and jumped in, forcing my body to get used to the cool water all at once. It felt nice and refreshing.

I spotted L under the water swimming towards me, so I moved to a point where my feet could comfortably touch the ground. The moment he broke the surface I pounced, pulling him into another kiss.

He didn't protest. Instead he pulled me closer to him. Our lips danced together in a perfect ballet, only breaking apart now and again for air. His hands wandered a little too far down my back but, to my own surprise, I found that I didn't mind. I'd never been quite so comfortable with someone after so short a time. We spent the next half hour like that, until someone cleared their throat, interrupting us again.

Dang it, Watari, you keep doing this.

I looked up to see him standing in the doorway, his eyebrow raised questioningly. Once he had L's attention, he said, "The surveillance has been set up in the closet like you asked. Only a few moments after I left something appeared on the screen. You might want to take a look."

We exited the pool and dried off using the pile of towels on a nearby shelf. This place was like a fancy hotel. Watari gave me a pointed look as I walked passed him out the door way. I just gave him a playful wink and followed L down the hall into a dark room filled with computer screens and expensive-looking tech that I was unfamiliar with. On one of the screens it showed the inside of my old closet. There was a man lying pounding on the door, yelling to be let out.

It was none other than Soichiro Yagami.

L pressed a button and spoke into a microphone, his voice modified to hide his identity as usual, "Soichiro Yagami."

Yagami stopped pounding and looked around, searching for the source of the noise. "Who is that? Why am I locked in here?" he found the camera and glared at it, obviously angry at being stuck there.

"It's quite alright, Mr. Yagami. You know me well enough. This is L."

"L? That's not possible. L is dead. He was murdered by Kira!" He practically growled.

"That's correct," Lawliet confirmed.

"So who are you then?" Yagami demanded.

"Everything will be explained soon. Watari will come to collect you; please try to calm down until then." L released the talk button and sent Watari off to bring our newest development to the house. "I think it would be best if we got dressed."

I agreed and we went to our respective rooms. My hair was still dripping, so I tied it up into a towel on my head and changed into an old pair of jeans and a red T-shirt with my college logo on it. When I was ready I looked out my window and saw the car driving back up the driveway. That certainly didn't take long.

I raced downstairs. I wanted to beat chief Yagami to the control room so I could see his reaction. The definition of the word surprise would undoubtedly be rewritten with just a picture of Yagami's face when he sees L. This ought to be good.

Once again, L was already there by the time I got to the control room. He was in the same outfit he always wore, only his hair was still soaked and he had a towel sitting limply on top of his head. I let out a small laugh. "You need to learn how to use a towel."

He gave me a questioning look and I reached over to dry his hair properly. He didn't stop me when I grabbed the towel and massaged it over his wild hair, getting rid of the majority of the water.

When I was almost done, he grabbed my arm and knocked my feet out from under me. I let out a yelp of surprise, awaiting my imminent collision with the floor. Except that it never came. Instead, L was holding me in a sort of weird dip, pressing his lips to mine. Once I realized I was not doomed to fall I kissed him back with equal enthusiasm.

I'm noticing that this is becoming a pattern of behavior; L kept doing stuff like this. Maybe it was just a honeymoon phase thing, but goodness I hope not. He can feel free to startle me like this forever if he wants.

I heard shouting in the hallway. I broke off to look in the direction of the voice.

"What is going on," it said, "I demand you tell me right now. How are you still alive?" I recognized the voice as none other than chief Yagami.

L let me stand up and sat down in his chair, biting at his thumbnail.

"Right this way, and all will be explained." Watari's calm voice directed the frenzied detective to the door. He opened it, allowing Yagami entry.

Soichiro stormed through the doorway, fire in his eyes. But when he saw Lawliet, he stopped, his jaw dropping in shock. "Ryuzaki?"

"The alias Ryuzaki is compromised. Here you will refer to me as Laurence." L adopted the name I'd used to explain his presence to my roommates. I was kinda proud, to be honest.

"How is this possible? You died. We buried you."

"If I am not mistaken, you died as well. Do you not remember?" If it were possible for him to look any more surprised, the chief most certainly would have.

He didn't have an answer for that, so L continued, "You, Watari and I have all somehow been taken into an alternate dimension. There is a good chance that it has something to do with our deaths. However, if that is not the case, then there is no telling who or what else may appear at any given time."

"An alternate dimension? What do you mean by that?"

L explained about the manga and how I had been the one to find him in the first place. He told chief Yagami everything that had happened, leaving out the more… _personal_ points in the story.

"Maybe we should show it to him," I suggested, "It'd be easier for him to grasp if he could just see for himself."

"Yes, I believe you're right. Watari, please escort Mr. Yagami to the TV room and turn on Death Note. It would be best if the both of you watched the whole thing." They turned to leave. "Oh, and Mr. Yagami," L added, "try not to get too upset over what you see."

They left and L grabbed a chocolate bar from a pile of sweets that I hadn't noticed until now. How did he not have diabetes by now? I was a bit hungry so I grabbed one as well and nibbled on the treat.

"He's not gonna be happy when he learns that you were right about his son all along," I commented.

"No, I suppose he won't be," he took a rather large bite, eating half the bar at once. With his mouth still full of chocolate he said, "How about a game of chess?"

There was no possible way I could last ten seconds against him in a strategy game like chess. "It wouldn't be much fun for either of us, you'd win too easily."

"Regardless," he leaned forward, "I'd love to play."

I sighed, "whatever floats your boat I guess. But don't expect much."

He stood up and left the room, returning a few minutes later with a chess board. I watched as he methodically set up the pieces, holding each one in his eccentric way.

"He who strikes first wins. Why don't you start?" He gave me the white side, signaling for me to start the game. I prepared to be annihilated.

Three moves later he had already won. "I told you," I said, "I can barely play this game against a normal person, let alone a certifiable genius."

"It's all a matter of thinking ahead of your opponent," he explained, "you need to consider every possible outcome before making your move." He set the pieces back into the starting position, "care to try again?"

We played for hours, with him winning each time. There was one point where I thought I had him, but it turned out just to be a trap. I was beyond frustrated by the time Watari called us in for dinner.

Food… Yes, good. I needed something other than sweets to sustain me, unlike a certain raven-haired detective I happened to know. Despite my grumpy attitude at having sat through hours of painful defeat, I still felt the impulse to intertwine my fingers with his as we walked to the dining room.

We came to a room with a large table. One end was covered in mouthwatering foods, still steaming and fresh. The room was filled with a pleasant aroma. My stomach growled greedily. Watari and Yagami were already sitting down, waiting for us. I noticed Yagami's eyes briefly flicker to our interlocked hands, an interested eyebrow raised.

L sat down and didn't bother with ceremony. He dove right in. I took the invitation to follow suit, gladly stuffing my face with whatever this was. I didn't recognize a single dish, but it was delicious and that's all that mattered.

Yagami didn't seem very hungry, nor was he particularly talkative. Three guesses why.

"So, Mr. Yagami," L bit some sort of pastry and talked with his mouth full, "how are you enjoying the show?"

Oh, L, you idiot.

"Enjoying?" the chief growled, "How could I enjoy something that suggests my son is a killer?"

' _Not just any killer… a genocidal psychopath,_ ' I had to refrain from saying out loud.

Unfortunately, Lawliet had less of a filter, "Was. He gets caught in the end and dies." He took another comically large bite.

"And how would you know that," he asked angrily, "you died midway through the investigation."

"Please calm down Mr. Yagami. It may be true that I died, but I also watched the anime to the end. Everything that it showed matched perfectly with my own memory. This suggests that everything the anime shows in this world was exactly what happened in ours. That includes your son being Kira."

Poor chief Yagami was so angry he couldn't even speak. He stormed out of the room, leaving his plate untouched. L responded by taking Yagami's cake and scarfing it down impressively fast.

I felt bad, but L was right. Whether Yagami liked it or not, Light was – and always would be – Kira. Obviously, he'd need some time to adjust. I decided I'd better steer clear of him until his head was level again.

We finished dinner and I went up to my room to unpack. I still had a lot of things to put away. L went into the control room to work on who-knows-what, so I spent the rest of the evening by myself. Once most my things had been properly dispersed around my new room I figured I'd better get some homework done. I worked on it until I fell asleep at my desk.

That night I had the strangest dream about Light in the Shinigami realm…


	8. What's in a Name

So, I've recently had a reviewer mention how quickly Lawliet and Ellie's relationship is moving along saying it feels out of character. First off, thank you SO MUCH for finally noticing this! It's actually something I did on purpose which will come up later in the plot. Second, I also did this so we could not just have another fanfic where we watch L fall in love, but so we can watch him _be_ in love. I wanted to explore what he would be like in a relationship. Having him fall for Ellie so quickly allows me more time to develop who they are as a couple, rather than being just another slow burn where he discovers his feelings for her near the end. It also allows for more realistic conflict between the two. Don't worry, they won't be all kissing and fluff, it'll go a lot deeper later on.

On another note (pun intended), I just pulled the best April Fools prank on my roommates. I put a bowl upside down on a counter with a note saying, "Do not open unless you plan to kill it," and drew a little spider at the bottom of the paper. Then I listened from behind my door. A few minutes later they came home and found it. They took at least two minutes to work up the nerve to open it, but when they saw that it was empty they started freaking out thinking it was loose in the dorm. They literally screamed, it was the best thing ever.

Anyways, please review! It makes my entire day.

(Oh, also, I discovered something today… There is a Death Note _the Musical_.) Just FYI. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

I went up to Ellie's room and found her sleeping with her head resting on top of piles of papers and textbooks. The lights were still on. I poked at her cheek, trying to wake her up.

This time it actually worked. She jumped as if startled and fell back, her chair tipping over. She fell to the ground with a loud thunk.

"Ow…" She rubbed the back of her head, "That hurt."

I helped her stand up properly and began dragging her to the door by her wrist, "Come with me. You have more training today."

She stopped, looking at me confused, "Training? What training?"

"Chess. You've got a lot to learn about outthinking your opponent if you plan to help take on Kira."

She huffed. Clearly, Ellie was not a morning person. "What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her hands across her face in an attempt to wake up properly.

"Almost noon. You've been asleep for quite some time."

That got a reaction out of her. Her eyes widened "Noon!? But I have classes today!" She ran about her room, gathering school supplies and shoving them into a backpack. "Get out, I've got to get dressed." She pushed me out the door and closed it behind her, all the while muttering about being late.

I suppose training would have to wait. I went back to the control room to watch the monitors. Nothing had appeared in the closet since Yagami, but that didn't mean nothing else was going to come through. I took a banana off the tray that Watari had brought in and yanked at the peel with my teeth.

The nightmare had showed up again last night. But this time it was slightly different.

This time Ellie had been there, hovering above the scene beside me. I tried to call out to her, but she was paying no attention to me. She was humming some eerie tune to herself while watching the scene below. She wore a long white dress and her skin emitted an ethereal glow.

Looking down at my hands I saw that I was giving off a gleam of my own, just as she was. Hers, however, was significantly brighter.

The Shinigami went through the same dialogue with Light as before, never once looking up at us. It was as if this time we were the ones invisible to them.

Just before the dream ended, a new figure – that was shining even brighter than Ellie – appeared in the middle of the circle. They too were clad in white, but they shone so intensely that I couldn't get a good look at who they were. Only Ellie and I seemed to be able to see it. They reached up and touched the foreheads of each Shinigami, every time leaving a bright white dot just between their eyes. Once they had touched each Shinigami in the circle, they disappeared, and I woke up.

There must be some meaning behind all this. Who was the strange white figure? Why was Ellie there? What was that glowing dot that was left on each of the Shinigami?

I bit half of the banana off at once, letting my cheeks puff out as I chewed on the soft fruit. How would I stop Kira once he came here? I wondered if he would arrive in the same manner as the rest of us had: alive. But was it possible that he could come in some other form? If Kira travels to this world in the form of a spirit, it may prove difficult to confine him.

It was clearly impossible to try and convince him to stop killing. Kira was a murderer. He never once showed remorse for his actions.

The best way to defeat Kira would be to take away his power. I would need to get his death note. But then, he could very well get another one from any of those dozens of Shinigami. Somehow I will have to prevent them from giving him another. I could attempt to take all of theirs away as well, but there's the issue of not being able to see them that would be an obvious set back, not to mention that the numbers are on their side. And who's to say they aren't capable of making more? We don't know where the death notes come from.

That's it.

That's my first move. Before anything can be done I need to know how the notebooks are created. Then we take them out at the source. Once no more notebooks can be made, we destroy every last copy, thus rendering Kira powerless.

But before they arrive we'll need some masks. We'll also need new aliases. Ellie took the liberty of renaming me, now it falls on me to give her one. It'll need to be something that fits her personality; she'd need something pleasant and unique. If I give her a new name that doesn't sound right, Kira will become suspicious. She's an actor, so she could play it off, saying it's a stage name if he ever found out. But even so, it would have to fit.

I knew what I was going to call her. Because I thought she was an angel when I first arrived, it was only right to give her the name of an angel. She will use the alias Gabrielle. Her initial will be G, just as I have L and Watari has W.

I will allow Watari to choose his and Mr. Yagami's aliases. They wouldn't need them other than to keep Kira off our trail. We can't have strangers claiming they met someone with the same name as Light's father. That could lead him straight to us. In order to defeat Kira, we must maintain maximum anonymity.

We will work from the shadows.

Watari came into the room with another tray of sweets. I tossed my banana peel behind my shoulder and grabbed a large lollipop that was roughly the size of my hand.

"Watari," I said, "please make new ID's for the four of us. Put mine as Laurence and Miss May's as Gabrielle. You can choose whatever last names you like. Whatever you decide for yourself make sure it is not too conspicuous."

He gave me a slight bow and left the room. As he exited, Mr. Yagami entered. His shoulders were slumped and his head hung loosely. "Hello, Mr. Yagami. How are you feeling," I asked, nibbling at my lollipop.

"How am I supposed to respond to that after everything that I just saw?"

"Ah, so you finished the anime then. What did you think of the ending? I thought it was a bit dramatic if you ask me." I broke off a bit of the candy and sucked at it.

"Is that all you have to say about it?" he clenched his fists, shaking.

I scratched an itch on the back of my head, "What would you like me to say?"

He sighed, "Nothing I suppose. Everything matched up to what I remember exactly how I remember it. You were right. My son is Kira."

"Was," I corrected, "But there is a distinct possibility that he will be Kira again."

"How? He is dead."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. How many times would I have to explain this same concept? "All three of us died as well, and yet here we are, alive and well. The only one of us who wasn't previously a corpse is the woman you met yesterday, and that's because she's from this world rather than our own. Now that we know interdimensional travel is possible, at least for those who were previously dead, we cannot rule out the idea that Kira will be coming here. And if– no, _when_ he does, we will need to be ready." I leaned forward, looking him intensely in the eye, "Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to stop Kira from doing to this world what he did to ours, despite him being your son?"

He straightened up, plastering a determined look on his face, "Yes I am. I have no son."

"Good," I reached over and grabbed one of the fruits off the tray, "Here, have a strawberry. They're in season."

"No, thank you. I don't have much of an appetite right now." He turned to leave, but stopped just before exiting, "And L…" He looked at me, "you can count on my support." With that he left.

More strawberries for me.

That is, until Ellie got home. Apparently, she has a thing for fruit, because she ate all my strawberries and every last grape I had. At least she left the cookies alone.

"I wonder if my roommates are wondering where I've gone off to," she said, "I never actually said goodbye. Not that it matters. I never liked them. They kept waking me up with loud parties and they treated me like a subordinate."

I listened to her chatter on for a solid half hour, until Watari came back with our new fake ID's. Ellie seemed hesitant to use hers.

"I understand why we need these, but I've never done an illegal thing in my life… At least nothing more serious than watching pirated movies online. Plus," she added, "people around here already know me. If I whip out an ID with the name 'Gabrielle Hawker' on it, they'd know it was fake."

"That is why you'll only use this when absolutely necessary, and only with people you don't know. Yours will come more in handy during any out-of-town trips we may need to go on."

She nodded in understanding, "Oh, I see. So this is to avoid leaving a trail for Kira to follow?"

I loved when people were on the same page. "That's correct."

She played with her bottom lip in thought. "So, does that make me an undercover agent? That would certainly be an entertaining role to play."

"Yes. And you will need to give your best performance. Make sure that no one knows that anything is amiss in your life. You cannot tell anyone about anything concerning the Death Note."

"Alright. But how will I explain why I spontaneously moved out of the dorms? It was paid for for the rest of the semester."

I smiled slightly, "tell them the truth; that you moved in with your boyfriend."

She looked uncomfortable at the notion, "The only problem with that is that I'm openly religious... It's no secret among my circle of friends that I'm waiting until marriage. If I said I moved in with my boyfriend they'd immediately know something was up."

"I suppose that does pose a problem." I grabbed a pile of marshmallows and started stacking them one on top of the other using liquid chocolate as glue. "In that case tell them you got a job as a cleaning lady in a private household that offered free living quarters. I'll even transfer a bi-weekly allowance into your account in the event that you were asked to prove it. That ought to satisfy their curiosity."

She nodded, "Okay, that woks. Just don't expect me to start cleaning the toilets."

"I can assure you, that won't be necessary. If you wish, you can think of the allowance as your pay for helping take down Kira."

"Sounds good to me," she grinned slowly, then without warning she jumped forward, pulling me into a lung-crushing hug. It knocked down my marshmallow tower, but I forgave her when she gave me a peck on the cheek. Her lips were chapped. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," she said happily, causing a genuine smile to grow on my lips. How did she have such an effect on me?

She pulled out her cell phone, "I'll need to call my mom and let her know I moved out of the dorms and got a 'job'. She'll be happy to not have to send me grocery money anymore." She dialed a number and brought it to her ear, leaving the room to break the news. A few minutes later, however, she poked her head back in the door saying, "Hey, L, she wants to talk to you. I told her my employer was a friend, otherwise she'd have gotten all worried about my moving in with a stranger." She passed the phone to me, putting it on speaker.

"Hello," the voice at the end of the line said, "is this Lawrence?" she sounded like an adult version of Ellie, only with not quite as lovely a voice.

"Yes, speaking," I responded, changing my voice to sound more accurate to the region.

"I just wanted to say thanks so much for giving my daughter this chance, she's had such difficulty finding a job." Ellie slapped her forehead, sighing dramatically.

"It's quite alright Mrs. May, she's one of my closest friends, I'm looking forward to having her around."

"Well you sound like a nice young man. Maybe sometime you could visit for a weekend. We never get to meet Ellie's friends, it'd be nice."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," I lied, "We'll definitely have to do that at some point."

"Great!" I could hear her smile in her voice, "it's settled then. Anyway, I ought to go, I have work. Tell Ellie I said 'I love you'."

"Yes. Goodbye." She hung up and I handed Ellie back her phone. "She says she loves you," I repeated.

"Yeah, I heard, thanks," her voice dripped with sarcasm.

That's when I saw something appear on the monitor. Something new had arrived in the closet.


	9. Out of Chocolate

I woke up to find a dozen people in my kitchen and living room making pancakes, so I decided to hide in my room and give you another chapter. People can be so bothersome…

Pay attention to the point of view here, it's slightly different than the others. Review and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. All that belong to me are my story and my OC.

* * *

Mihael Keehl's P.O.V

I woke up in a small, dark room. Standing up, I hit my head on what felt like a metal bar. What was this place? I was in the middle of Near and I's plan to catch Kira.

An altered voice sounded from above me, "Hello Mello. Long time no see." They spoke with a cool tone. Almost as if… No, it couldn't be. L was long dead. This was probably Near playing some weird joke.

"Who are you?" I demanded, angry that someone had the audacity to lock me up like this. "Let me out of here!"

"Of course. In a few minutes, we will come to retrieve you, there's no need to worry."

"Let me out!" I seethed, pounding on the walls confining me. How dare they confine me like this? One of the walls sounded hollow… I felt around it and discovered it was a door. I tried the knob. It was locked from the outside. Damn…

Positioning myself to allow for the most power, I lifted my foot and slammed it against the door in an attempt to break it down. It didn't budge. I tried again, this time moving it just enough for me to see a sliver of light.

"There's no need for that, Watari is nearly there, he'll let you out," the voice called again. Either this _was_ a joke, or this was someone who obviously didn't know that Watari was dead. He died with L years ago. Either way, I didn't fancy staying long.

With one final heave, I kicked with all my might, finally breaking the lock. The door swung open, and I was out. I took in my surroundings. This was an odd place to imprison someone… It looked like an unoccupied double bedroom. I had been put in a closet. This wasn't the type of place Near was likely to lock me up in, so who had put me there? They obviously underestimated me with this pathetic security. It was probably one of those idiotic mob bosses. They were going to have a very bad day because of this, I'd make sure of it.

There was an open window to my right. I looked out and noticed we were on a ground floor. It was almost insulting how easy this was.

Then I caught a glimpse of a figure walking toward the window. I could go through the other door, but who knows how many people I'd need to fight off to get out that way. If I took the window, I only needed to take down this one person.

I reached in my pocket for a chocolate bar; I always carried one on me. I was disappointed to find that my pockets were empty. Those bastards took my chocolate! I glared at the approaching figure, working out the best way to take him down. I would wait in here, hiding from his view. Then, when he pokes his face through the window, I'll take him out with one swift move. This will work.

I could sense the figure getting steadily closer. Almost there… As soon as I take them out I'm taking their wallet and spending everything they have on the best brand of chocolate out there. Serves them right.

Just as the man reached the window, I heard a voice from behind me. At first I didn't believe it, but when I turned around, sure enough there he was standing in front of me. The only person I had ever trusted with my life: Matt. He patted down his jacket, looking panicked.

"What's going on?" he looked at me, "Mello? What happened to Takada?"

The voice spoke again, this time I could see it was coming from a camera in the upper corner, "Nice to see you Matt. Good of you to join us."

Matt looked up, "and who are you?"

"Watari will explain everything to you."

I whipped around. The figure had entered the room and was now standing behind me.

It was Watari.

"If you're still alive, then why did you send Wammy's a message saying you were dead?" I yelled in his face, furious.

"The answer is simple," the voice answered, "Because we were." We? "Think," they continued, "what was the last thing you remember before you came here?"

I remembered transporting Miss Takada in a large truck, then the worst pain I'd felt in my life gripping my chest. After that everything went black.

Matt spoke up, "I got shot…" he said, "several times. It hurt."

This time, Watari spoke, "if you both will come with me, I'll explain everything to you." He turned around and climbed back out the window, not bothering to look back.

I decided to follow him, but only until I got my answers. "Fine," I said, "But as soon as I know what's was going on, Matt and I are out of here."

We reluctantly followed Watari to a black sports car. As he drove I saw that we were in a rural city built on and around red mountains. Watari told us some insane story about alternate dimensions and anime. If anyone else had said it, I wouldn't have believed them, but Watari was no fool. The only way he would say these things is if they were true.

I glanced behind me. Matt was sitting with his feet up, taking the whole of the back seat. He put a cigarette between his teeth and lit it, taking a long drag.

"So," he said, "If we're only manga characters here, then our faces will be well known?"

"Not necessarily," Watari responded, "people are used to seeing cartoon drawings of our faces. We might not be recognized because of this. When L first arrived, the woman who lived in that room held a knife to his throat thinking he was an intruder." Now that was quite an interesting picture. "However," he continued, "it would be best if you left the names Matt and Mello behind. People would know if you told them your name, even though Miss May says the majority of people would assume you were simply wearing a costume. Please keep this in mind."

We pulled up to a large gate, behind which was a thick grove of trees. The green contrasted dramatically with the red dust of the rest of our surroundings, but they allowed for privacy. When the car reached the end of the driveway, I saw a large mansion. The interior was no less grand than the outside.

Matt grinned, "Nice. L has good taste." He looked around, admiring our surroundings, but I wasn't interested in architecture.

"Where is L?" I demanded.

Watari walked down the hall and opened a door. There, sitting with his feet on the chair, was my mentor and predecessor. This confirmed everything Watari had said. I clutched at the cross around my neck. This couldn't be, and yet here we are.

Sitting beside him, looking at us with interest was a young woman. This must be the woman that found L in the first place. She messed with her bottom lip just L had a tendency to do.

Matt looked her up and down, flashing an award-winning grin, "Hey there," he walked over to her, "What's your name?" She raised her eyebrow at his flirtatious tone.

L interrupted before she could respond, his voice practically growling, "You may address her as Gabrielle, or G." He'd never sounded so dangerous when talking to us. He was practically growling. Could it have something to do with the girl?

'Gabrielle' held out her hand, "nice to meet you," she smiled, "How are you enjoying my world?"

Matt took her hand and leaned forward in another flirting attempt, "Hard to say, we've not seen much of it. Maybe sometime you could show me around. I'd love to learn about this world from a gorgeous angel like you. We can make it a date," he gave her a wink.

She just coughed, swatting the smoke from his cigarette away, "No thanks," she said, "I'm spoken for." She leaned away from him, "could you please put that out? I've got asthma and don't fancy getting lung cancer."

Matt gave up, looking a bit disappointed, "Darn, all the good ones are always taken." He put out his cigarette and pulled a portable game system out of his pocket, leaning against the wall.

She turned her head to me and a look of surprise crossed her features. "If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your scar?" she gestured to my face.

My blood boiled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's gone," she said simply, grabbing a chocolate bar from L's tray of goodies. "Here," she tossed it to me and I caught it in on hand.

Gone? How could my scar be gone? I reached up to touch my face, and to my surprise found that it was no longer rough like the massive burn scar had been, but smooth just like I was before the explosion.

This day just kept getting weirder. I bit into the chocolate, allowing the sugary flavor to calm my nerves. "I'd like to see the anime that we supposedly come from. It might help answer some questions."

"Of course," L responded, the threatening tone in his voice replaced with his usual calm sound. "If you'll just follow Watari, he'll show you everything we know."

Just before we left, L requested Watari to bring them a chess board. Poor girl; she's going to get eaten alive against him.


	10. And So It Begins

(I just discovered that Lawliet is not pronounced law-let, but it's actually said low-lite and I am tripping out right now… Send help.)

Things get moving a bit more in this chapter.

* * *

Ellie May's P.O.V.

I'm not sure how this could be called training. Even Lawliet himself admits that he is, and I'm quoting him on this, 'childish and hates to lose.' And that means he refuses to let me win even once. I haven't come close. Not. Once.

I threw my hands in the air, "Okay, we've been at this for hours, I need a break. Can we go do something else?" I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms in defiance.

"Yes, I see we haven't made much progress. I suppose we can stop for now," he bit at his nail, looking at the chess board.

I took a deep breath, relieved. "Okay," I said, "Let's just go and listen to some music for a while. We can chill out on a couch and eat snacks, how does that sound? Mr. Yagami can watch the monitors."

"And what would we be listening to?" he picked up a donut with his thumb and forefinger, lifting it above his head to munch at it from beneath.

I smiled mischievously, "Did you know there is a Death Note the Musical?"

He nearly choked on his pastry. I couldn't hold it in; I laughed out loud at the look on his face. It appeared to be a mixture of horror and shock, with a few hints of confusion and indignation. I never thought he even _could_ make a face like that. It was a moment I would treasure forever.

"Perfect," I grabbed his sleeve, "let's go," I dragged him from his chair up the stairs to the music room I had found – to my extreme delight – on my floor of the building. It had a bunch of instruments, as well as a comfy couch and the best speakers I'd ever heard in surround sound. I plugged my phone into the wall and opened YouTube, pulling up the English soundtrack. I pressed play and watched L's questioning look.

When the soundtrack was over he simply stared at me, his expression unreadable. "So," I asked, thoroughly amused, "What'cha think? Personally I thought the songs didn't fit the characters very well, but at least the actors had good voices. The actress who plays Rem is especially talented."

He played with his bottom lip, "I don't know how to respond to that."

I snickered again at his comment, changing the music to a YouTube mix, starting with L's theme. "This," I explained, "Is the music they used to represent you in the anime."

"Yes, I recognize this one." He tilted his head slightly, listening.

"This is how I imagine what goes on in your head if it were turned into music."

He looked at me, "What would yours sound like, I wonder?"

I shrugged, "hard to say. I guess it'd depend on the day." I sat next to him, letting my head rest on his shoulder, "really all you need to do to know that is listen when I sing. Usually I pick songs that mimic how I feel at the moment."

"I see."

We sat together listening to music for a while, not feeling the need to talk. He seemed deep in thought.

Eventually L wanted to go back to the control room. I was getting tired of sitting around, so I decided I'd seek out Matt and Mello. It turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought; the building was huge. I got lost twice. Eventually I found them at the pool. Matt was having a grand old time swimming around while Mello sat to the side eating a chocolate bar.

"Hey guys," I greeted, "Mind if I join you?"

"Please do," Matt grinned.

"Alright, I'll go grab my swimsuit; be right back." I headed up to my room and changed, grabbing my goggles. Last time I went swimming may have been fun, but I didn't exactly get a lot of exercise. Not that I'm complaining.

When I got back Matt was chatting away to Mello in a back float. He was in just the right place that it would splash all over him if someone were to jump off the diving board… So naturally I knew what I had to do.

I walked quietly, keeping out of Matt's view. Mello noticed me, but didn't say anything when I put my finger to my lips in a shushing motion.

"…but if this is 2017, then were we in heaven all those years we were dead, or is it just later here?" Matt chattered on, "I mean, if we did just come straight here, did we travel through time or just- AHH!"

I made the largest splash I could, hitting him directly in the face. I stayed under the water for a moment to avoid any backlash. When I resurfaced, Mello was suppressing a laugh and Matt was treading the water with surprise etched on his face. I allowed a little bit of a maniacal laugh to escape my lips. That is, until Matt splashed me back.

It got in my mouth and up my nose, causing me to sputter and cough. Once I got my composure back I narrowed my eyes, "Oh, you did NOT." It was on.

We had an epic battle, each fighting with all our strength. Matt was a worthy opponent. Each time I struck, he immediately hit back with another wave – pun intended. Surely this war would go down in history. Mello just watched, munching at his cocoa. The bloodshed lasted a decent half hour.

Eventually I got too tired to continue, "Okay, okay, I surrender," I called, holding my hands in the air.

Matt punched his fish into the air, "Yes! Victory!"

"This isn't over," I warned, "I will defeat you next time, mark my words."

"Oh, I'll mark them, but only so it'll be sweeter when you lose again."

I scoffed, "you wish."

"Oh, come now," a cool voice called from behind me, "surely you won't accept defeat so easily."

I turned around to see L sitting near the edge of the pool in his usual way, watching us. He was biting his nails again.

"I thought you were going back to the control room," I questioned, "Otherwise I would have asked you to join us."

"I did, but nothing was happening, so I left Yagami to watch the monitors. At this point, there's not much to do other than wait."

"Well, in that case," I swam over to where he was sitting and gestured for him to lean closer, pretending I was going to tell him something. Instead I reached up and kissed him. He kissed me back, oblivious of my real intent.

I pulled him down into the water, jeans and all. He resurfaced, hair flattened on his head with water. Matt and Mello stared slack jawed and frozen, not believing what just happened. L ignored them. Instead, he grabbed my shoulders, returning the favor by kissing me and using the distraction to push me under the surface.

When I came back up he said, "and eye for an eye, my friend."

"How rude. You'll have to make it up to me," I teased.

"Oh?" He leaned in closer, "How's this?" he brushed my lips with his sweetly. It was easy to tell he had just eaten something with caramel.

"Yeah, ok, I forgive you," I said.

"Wait, hold on," Mello spoke up, "so when you told Matt you were taken, you were talking about him!?"

"Wow, L," Matt said, looking impressed, "I didn't know you had it in you."

Suddenly, Yagami's voice called on a speaker somewhere above us, making me jump, "Everyone, come quick! Something's happened."

I looked at L, he played with his lip. "That sounds urgent," he said.

The four of us left the pool room, Mello being the only one who wasn't dripping wet. When we got to the control room Watari and Mr. Yagami were waiting for us. All the monitors that had been turned off earlier were turned on, all showing different versions of the same thing. The largest monitor showed a shot of a woman standing in front of a prison. I listened to the news anchor as she explained what was happening.

"I'm on site in Colorado at the ADX Florence: a prison said to have the highest security in the world. It houses male criminals who the FBI have deemed to be some of the most dangerous men in the country. The prisoners are kept in their cells all day long, and no direct access to their cells is allowed. This afternoon, at approximately 8pm, one of the guards that was passing by his route found that every single one of the inmates had collapsed. Police have confirmed that all of them are dead. The building has been tested for both radiation and toxic fumes, but nothing has been found. A coroner reports that each of the bodies inspected all died of heart attacks."

I gawked at the screen, not believing what I just heard. I looked to L, hoping he could explain. I didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be. Light Yagami never appeared in the closet.

Lawliet simply studied the screen. I could almost see the gears turning in his head. Matt and Mello concentrated on the other monitors, each of them deep in thought.

The news anchor continued talking, suggesting theories as to the cause, but I tuned her out. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew exactly how they died.

Maybe my dream had been more than a dream. If that's true, then we were going to have problems. A LOT of problems.

"Watari," L's voice startled me out of my thoughts, "please pass out the new items we discussed."

"Items?" I asked, watching as Watari opened a cabinet on the wall, typing in a quick code.

L, who I noticed with a stab of guilt was still soaked, turned to face the rest of us. "I've had Watari acquire a number of masks for all of you. It would be in your best interest to wear these at all times when leaving this building. Kira has already seen us. Gabrielle is the only one of us who he does not know. For the time being, we must assume that he has the Shinigami eyes and can kill with only a face." He turned to me, "You will continue to attend classes as usual. You must maintain an air of normalcy. Do not give anyone any reason to suspect that you are involved in this case, do you understand?"

I nodded, fear suddenly gripping at my chest. This was really happening…

Watari passed the masks out to each of us. They were all plain white, full-face masks; the kind you can get at any party store, only these covered the entire head like a helmet. I noticed how L had a whole pile of extras in the cabinet. They were super creepy.

I could almost hear L's theme playing in the background.

Mello slapped his mask out of Watari's hands, "You knew he was coming?" he asked angrily.

"I had my suspicions, yes," L grabbed a truffle and popped it into his mouth.

"And did you not think that would be important enough to mention?" He looked ready to hit someone.

L talked with his mouth full, "I assumed that as one of my successors you would have come to that conclusion yourself."

Matt just watched the whole thing from the sidelines, still dripping from the pool. I watched as Mello grabbed his arm, storming out. He was yelling something about catching Kira on his own. I was sad to see them go, but I guess it was inevitable. L's way of doing things was too different from Mello's. I was sure our paths would cross later on, but who knows when that could be?

What we needed to focus on now was finding and stopping Light Yagami.

One of the news stations changed, showing a weirdly-shaped stone structure. The headline said, _'hundreds mysteriously dead at La Santé Prison'_

"Look," I pointed it out, and moved it onto the main screen. It was a bird's eye view with a voiceover explaining how all the prisoners suddenly started having heart attacks. No survivors. No explanation.

"He's targeting the world's most secure prisons," L mumbled.

"Okay," I said, "how do we stop him?"

He looked at me, "We don't."

"Excuse me? You mean we're just going to let him keep going?"

"Yes. It's too early to determine anything."

"So we're just supposed to let all those people die?" I exclaimed I shock.

"If you want to save the rest of the world, as well as others, from the same fate, yes."

I stepped back. Other worlds? How did he know about that? That was just a weird dream I'd had after staying up too late. "But you're talking about an apocalypse. Even Kira wouldn't go that far, would he?"

He looked me square in the eye, "Do you really want to take that chance?"

"Ellie- I mean, Gabrielle," Mr. Yagami spoke, "I don't want to sit around lying in wait either, but you saw what he did to our world. He ruled over everyone by fear and threat. Perhaps if we had listened to L when he told us he thought Light was Kira, a lot of bloodshed could have been avoided. Unless you want the same thing to happen here, you should try and trust L."

I knew he was right, but I didn't have to like it. I frowned, but nodded my head in agreement.

"Good. Now that that's settled," L said, "how about a game of chess?"


	11. Why Heels?

This chapter was harder but it was super fun to write. Please review and let me know what you think.

* * *

L Lawliet P.O.V.

People were starting to notice the increased rate of heart attacks. Some were connecting it to the anime that we had come from, but for the most part, the people in this world were trying to blame it on something in the atmosphere. Some said it was global warming, some said it was gas, some said it was a new plague, but no one had figured it out properly. People can be so thick.

After Kira finished the prisons, he started targeting dictators and world leaders that didn't fit his mold of innocence. This world had a completely different set of people in it, so there had to be somewhere he was getting his names and faces. He must have access to a computer somewhere.

The majority of killings were currently happening in America, so I had Watari hack into the NSA's database to pinpoint every computer that had searched for the same people who'd died of heart attacks. After I put a timeline of the deaths together, we found a trail of public computers that had searched for the names of people just before they died. Kira was being smart about not staying in one place.

We did, however, find a pattern. "If you mark all these places on a map," I explained, drawing a dot on each of the suspicious computer locations for Yagami and Ellie's reference, "and then connect the dots in order," I drew a line, connecting them, "you can see him clearly moving west. All these places are relatively large cities; this tells us that Kira is attempting to mask his presence with high populations."

"Can we look at these places' surveillance cameras," Ellie asked, "It could answer a lot of questions. Plus, we'd know for certain if it's Light Yagami, or if it's just a death note that found its way here. We still don't know if he ever actually came here."

"I already took the liberty," Watari said, "The surveillance didn't show anyone at the computers during the times they were accessed."

"The computers had always been accessed during the early and late hours in the day, when no one else was likely to be around," Yagami pointed out, "it's possible he was hiding from view. He's certainly smart enough to avoid surveillance cameras, or even trick them."

Ellie played with her bottom lip, her face thoughtful. After a moment, she said, "Is it alright if we all look at them together? Maybe there was something you missed that someone else might pick up on."

"That would be best. I would like to look at them myself," I agreed, signaling for Watari to pull up the tapes.

He did as instructed, pulling up the first incident. It showed a large library with about a dozen computers. They were all lined up with the screens facing away from the cameras.

After a few minutes of nothing, Ellie suddenly jumped up shouting, "There! Pause it, pause it, quick, look!"

Watari did as instructed, but even I didn't see anything. She pointed to an empty spot on the screen saying, "it's him, see! It's Light Yagami. He's surrounded by a bunch of shinigami."

This earned her nothing but odd looks. I stared hard at the spot she was pointing to, but saw nothing. What was she seeing?

"There's nothing there," Yagami mentioned, earning a look of confusion from Ellie.

"What are you talking about? He's right there," she argued, "See? He's even wearing that red tie he always has on. He's looking right at the camera, there's no mistaking it." She moved her hand to point to another spot on the screen, "And there's Ryuk."

"You can see Ryuk," I asked, surprised. I had touched his notebook before, but I couldn't see him. Perhaps it was something to do with coming to this world. The absence of Mello's scar suggested that the bodies we now inhabited were not the same ones we had died in. Since this body has not touched the notebook, perhaps we no longer had the ability to see Ryuk.

"No," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice, "I'm making it up to mess with you."

"Hold on," Yagami said, "I thought you were from here, so how could you have touched the notebook?"

"Are you guys honestly going to stand there and tell me you can't see Light standing _right there_ , surrounded by a plethora of shinigami?" She was staring at us as if she couldn't believe what we were saying.

"Watari, please un-pause the video," I requested. "Tell me, which computer is he using?"

Ellie looked at the screen for a moment, then pointed to the one third from the left. "That one, he's typing something."

I leaned in, studying the image before me. The computer she indicated was glowing slightly, which was hard to notice since it was facing the other direction. Could it be that Ellie was able to see Light, as well as the shinigami when we could not?

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the computer's mouse move on its own. "Watari, I need you to pull up all the surveillance footage at once. As soon as Gabrielle says to pause one, do so."

Yagami looked at me, "What did you find?"

"She may be able to see Light and the shinigami without having to touch the notebook." I pointed out the small glow coming from the screen as well as the moving mouse.

He looked at Ellie with awe and fear, "how can that be?"

She shrugged, "I'm just as confused as you are. They're right there, clear as day. Unless I'm hallucinating."

"No," I said, squishing a gummy bear slightly between my fingers, "if you were hallucinating then the computer wouldn't be on." I popped the chewy treat in my mouth. Whatever the reason, this beautiful woman just became an invaluable asset.

Watari put the other twelve instances on the other monitors. Ellie indicated when to pause them each time she saw Light on the screens. I asked that these images be printed out and placed into a file. Ellie confirmed that she could still see both Light and the shinigami surrounding him in the photos. If ever we became capable of seeing Light Yagami or the shinigami around him, these may prove useful.

"Now all we need to do is lure him into a trap. If we can get him to end up someplace of our own choosing, we might be able to get his notebook. Based on his pattern of behavior so far, the next city he'll visit will be Las Vegas, Nevada. Luckily that's only a short drive from where we are now. We know he'll need a public computer to look up names. Therefore, I suggest we cause a blackout everywhere but a section of the city that has only one place with public computers." I turned to Ellie, "You will go there and pretend to be working on homework until Kira arrives. When he does, act like you can't see him. If he thinks he's invisible, you can get as close to him as you need to. As soon as you have the chance, take his notebook and get outside. Watari will be waiting to take you away in the car. Above all else," I looked her square in the eye, "do not let him, or any of the shinigami see your face.

"Actually," she said, "I think I have a way that it wouldn't matter even if he did."

Yagami raised his eyebrow, "How? If they find out you took Light's notebook, the shinigami will likely kill you."

She smiled, giving us all a charming wink, "I have my ways."

I grabbed another gummy bear. "Very well. Kira will be there tonight, which means we need to be ready. We should avoid turning off the power until later. Until then we'll get everything set up."

"Great! Sounds like fun," Ellie seemed oddly excited about this, "I'll go get ready. It may take a few hours, but when I come back, you won't even recognize me." She turned to Watari, offering him a smile, "could I have a ride to campus?"

"Actually," I spoke up, "I'd like to see how you plan to make yourself immune to Kira. I'll take you." I stood up, Watari handing me the car keys.

She nodded, "Good idea. We can do you too. I don't want you dying on me… again." She grabbed my sleeve and dragged me down the hall, overly enthusiastic.

I put my mask on before stepping outside. While we drove, Ellie pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"Weston? Hey babe, this is Ellie. – I'm good, how are you? – Fabulous. Anyway, I have a favor I need from you. Could you meet me in the theatre dressing rooms with your makeup kit in ten minutes? – Yeah, there's two of us, we need your skilled hands. – It's ok, we'll reimburse you for any materials we use up. – Yes; wigs, liquid latex, makeup, the works. – cool, thanks. Oh, also, can you keep this a secret? – Heh, yeah, something like that. – No, don't worry, it's nothing weird. Well… no weirder than my usual antics. – Ok, awesome. You're a doll. – love you too! Bye." She hung up, sticking her phone in her pocket. "Okay," she said as we got closer to her college campus, "we'll want to pull into the parking lot next to the theatre. It's over there," she pointed.

The parking lot was mostly empty. That was a good sign, it meant there wouldn't be too many people to interrupt us. Ellie took us through the performer's entrance into a dark room with only a small blue light. "That's a ghost light," she explained, "it's tradition to always have at least one light on in a theatre to keep away any mischievous spirits. You'd be surprised how superstitious the theatrical world is."

"Are you superstitious," I asked, only mildly interested.

"Absolutely," she grinned, then flipped several switches, turning on the backstage lights. "You know, this theatre is supposedly haunted with three ghosts. One is a man in a top hat who watches every single production. It's said that if you scan the audience carefully, there will always be a man in a top hat somewhere in the crowd. Another is a ballerina who people claim you can see still dancing on the stage if you come in the wee hours of the night. The story goes that the man in the top hat fell in love with her, but she rejected him, so he killed her and then himself. The third is a baby who died down in the tunnels underneath the theatre having been abandoned by its mother. If you don't say good night to it when you're the last person to leave, everything will be in a shambles in the morning. Or so they say."

A man wearing bright colors walked in the door behind us, a large case in tow. "Hey hey, Ellie May," he walked up and gave her a hug.

"Hello, Weston, you beautiful human," she hugged him back gladly.

He noticed me and jumped, startled. "Oh shit, you scared me half to death," he clutched his chest, "What's with the creepy mask?"

Ellie answered for me, "He's wanted by the police. You're here to help him escape so the government doesn't find him on any surveillance cameras." There was a playful glint in her eye. She wasn't entirely lying. The government was still trying to catch whoever it was that hacked into their system. They'll never catch us, of course, but she was still technically telling the truth. I wondered why she would reveal that to this man.

He stared for a moment, then broke into a loud laugh, "Oh honey, you're too much. I'm surprised you didn't come up with something more outrageous. I'm almost disappointed in you; I was expecting something more along the lines of aliens or alternate dimensions. You're always spouting the most entertaining nonsense."

She grinned, the started walking down a staircase, "Maybe that's why I said something a little different this time," she said, "I gotta switch it up now and again, keep you on your toes. Can't have you going soft, can we?"

He laughed again as we descended a labyrinth of stairs and hallways, each labeled with a different purpose. When we got to the one labeled 'dressing rooms', we walked through the doorway and switched on the lights. We were in a somewhat cramped area, full of vanity desks, each with their own mirror and set of lights. To the side were shelves of various costume pieces and props.

"Alrighty," Weston set his case on the ground and opened it, revealing an impressive collection of cosmetics. I noticed Ellie subtly locking the door. "Who's first?"

Ellie raised her hand, "Me," she sat in a stool, adjusting her long hair behind her shoulders. I sat in a chair to watch, my hands resting on my knees. Weston raised an eyebrow when he saw how I sat, but shrugged, deciding to ignore it.

"And what would you like me to do, exactly," he questioned as he laid out a few objects on one of the desks.

"well," she said, "I called you up because you're the best drag queen in the state-"

"Damn straight," he said proudly.

"-So I need you to make me a man. I have to be completely unrecognizable. I'm pulling an elaborate prank and it's riding on this. Everything from the shape of my face, to the color of my hair, to the fact that I have boobs; all of it needs to change. You can do it, right?"

He gave her a look, "Can I do it? Do you even know who you're talking to? Honey, when I'm finished, your own mother won't recognize you."

"Perfect! Let's get going, we need it done asap."

"As you say, babe. First thing's first: I'm gonna need you to take off your shirt and bra." He pulled some stretchy fabric out of his case and started unrolling it. To my surprise, Ellie did as she was told, turning around so I could only see her back. She had a birthmark on her left shoulder blade.

Weston bound her chest with the fabric to give her a masculine figure. I watched as he put layer upon layer of makeup and cosmetics onto her face, all the while with her back turned to me. He stuffed her long hair into a wig pinning it to her head. It took nearly an hour before Weston stepped back to look at her, "Damn, if I didn't know you were a woman I'd be asking you on a date right now. You look fabulous! Here," he handed her a pile of clothing, "put these on and you're done." She did as instructed, not bothering to leave the room to change.

When she turned around I was genuinely impressed; My Ellie was a man. Weston was clearly skilled. Standing in front of me was a handsome, red-headed guy in a fedora, a bow tie, and suspenders. There was no way Kira could get her now, even if he stared at her for a solid five minutes.

"Your turn," I heard Ellie's voice come from this new person.

"Okay," Weston turned to me, "I'm gonna need you to take off the weird horror-film mask. And you'll need to put your knees down so I can put some knockers on you."

I did so slowly. I could feel my reasoning ability dropping with my change in position. I mentally cursed.

When the mask was off, Weston gasped, "Oh, honey have you ever even seen the sun?" He took my chin in his hand, turning my head this way and that to appraise my appearance. I fought the urge to pull back out of his grip. I hated being touched, especially by people I didn't know. "You look like you just stepped out of a basement for the first time in your life." He ran his thumb over the bags under my eyes.

"Hey, be nice, that's my boyfriend you're talking to," Ellie scolded.

He looked like Christmas had come early, "Ooooooh, Ellie, honey, why didn't you tell me you had a beau!? Here I was trying to set you up with my ex. Haven't you been single for like, ever?" He looked me over again, this time with excitement in his eyes, "He's a strange one isn't he. Perfect for you and your adorably weird brain. We'll have to get together sometime and gossip about it." He poked me in the chest, "You treat her right. This girl is under my protection. If you hurt her I will hunt you down and glitter glue those pretty eyes of yours shut." I fought the urge to hit him.

He chatted away about nonsense as he worked on my masquerade. I let Ellie direct Weston's design, I couldn't care less what I looked like. The sponge was cold as he dabbed some odd goop all over my face.

I hated this.

He'd tried to put me in a dress, but Ellie didn't let him. "As much as I'd love to see that, he might go insane not getting to sit with his feet on the chair," she explained.

It took even longer to finish my disguise than Ellie's had, but when we were done I looked in the mirror to find a moody old woman glowering at me. My hair was no longer its familiar black, but a light grey ratted on top of my head. Weston had put me in a floral-print blouse, black khakis, and a cardigan. Worst of all he put me in heels.

Immediately I missed my comfortable jeans and plain white shirt. My only consolation was that Kira wouldn't be able to recognize me while on this mission.

Ellie thanked Weston and reminded him to keep this whole thing a secret. He kissed her hand and she walked out. I could not have gotten out of there faster. I raced us home, desperate for something sugary.

When we walked into the control room Yagami pulled a gun on us, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"Please calm yourself, Yagami. It's just us." Pushing his gun out of my face I sat down. I picked up a brownie and stuffed it into my mouth whole.

Ellie gave a little turn, showing off her costume, "How do I look?"

He gawked, speechless. "Erm…"

Watari walked in, stopping when he saw us. His eyebrows raised in the most surprise I've seen on his face in quite some time.

"Are the preparations ready," I asked.

He snapped out of it quickly, "Yes. I've secured a different vehicle for the trip. The blackout will start when you give the word." He held up a remote with a single switch on it.

"Good. Let's not waste time then." I stood up, grabbing a handful of marshmallows and shoving them into the purse that Ellie had insisted I carry.

We all climbed into a large black van and drove towards the most dangerous mass-murderer mankind has ever known.


	12. Blank Slate

I'm skipping class today for you guys, so I hope you like it. This chapter is shorter, but it's special. If you notice, it's from Kira's point of view. Enjoy!

I love hearing your guys' feedback. It also helps me work faster, so if you like quick updates: write a little review for me.

* * *

Light Yagami's P.O.V.

My plan was going perfectly. With an army of Shinigami behind me, I've scoured across this country punishing the wicked. As soon as I get to the coast, I'll head back to Japan. From there I'll set up my base of operations, punishing all hours of the day instead of just mornings and nights. With my new ghostly form, all of this is possible. And the best thing about all this? No L. Him and his successors were gone for good, leaving nothing to stand in my way.

There's no way I can be caught. I'm not even visible anymore. The only ones who can see or even touch me are other supernatural entities like the shinigami, which means I have nothing to worry about. I can't picture any other non-humans caring about them enough to cause me any trouble. The only reason I've stuck to using the computers when everyone is gone is so no one will be able to interrupt me.

Tonight, we're in Las Vegas. This city is full of despicable people that the world would be better off without. Finding criminals to punish would be a piece of cake in a place like this, especially with the shinigami.

I had tried to make the eye deal. I didn't have anything to lose, since I was already dead, but they wouldn't let me have the eyes. They said they already gave me one wish, so they wouldn't give me the shinigami eyes since I had no years to pay for it. But that was fine. I had actual shinigami following my every command, by order of their king. Even Ryuk was doing as I asked, despite his constant grumbling. They themselves rarely wrote in their own notebooks, but they told me names. With their help, the name Kira will be worshipped as a god by this time next year.

I walked the filthy streets of Vegas, writing names left and right. One of the best things about being dead? I don't get tired. I could walk forever and never need sleep or rest. Before I knew it, it was 11:00 in the afternoon. The sky was dark, but the streets were still lit with bright lights. All I needed to do was find a computer and I'll continue my work. This time of day people are either at home, are slobbering drunk, or gambling. In any case, it was perfectly safe to assume I would not be interrupted.

Just then the lights all around the city went out.

"What the hell?" I said aloud, wondering why everything suddenly turned off. Nothing closes in Vegas, not this early. This must be a blackout. Damn. "Hey, Ryuk," I said.

"Yeah," he said, turning to me.

"Fly up there and see if there's anywhere that still has power. We need to get to a computer."

He glared at me, obviously displeased at taking orders, but he did as he was told. A moment later he landed back down in front of me, "That way. There's a few buildings that still have lights on."

I followed his direction and eventually came to a large library. The lights were still on inside. Even better, there weren't that many people. There was only one car in the parking lot. I walked through the wall and scanned the room around me for people. There was an old grumpy-looking lady standing behind an information desk munching on marshmallows. A young man in suspenders sat reading some manga at a table near the computer area. The rest of the building was empty.

"This will do perfectly," I said as I chose one of the computers. I typed a few key words in and started to write names.

I was shocked when my death note was torn from my hands. Looking up I saw the young man bolting toward the door. The old lady was already gone, but that didn't matter. That bastard stole my notebook! "After him," I shouted, "write his name!" Who was this guy? How could he see me? Why did he take my notebook?

I ran after him. How dare he take my notebook? I watched him pile into a car and drive off. I couldn't catch them on foot if I tried. The shinigami would have to get to them.

That's when I realized the shinigami weren't following the car. I turned around to see them standing around, doing nothing. "What are you waiting for? Write his name down." I demanded.

Ryuk started laughing. What was this all about?

"We couldn't see his name," one of the shinigami said. "We couldn't even see his lifespan. He was completely blank. So was that old lady."

"How is that possible? You looked right at them, didn't you?"

Ryuk kept laughing. The others just stared at me. I glared daggers at them, "Fine. If you won't kill him, at least follow them and see where they're headed. That man is a liability."

A few of the shinigami took off in pursuit of the vehicle. This was bad. If he could not only see me, but also couldn't be killed by the death note, then I had to find him as soon as possible. Not only that, but he had my death note. I could always get a new one from the king, but that still leaves the issue of this mysterious man having a notebook. He could do a lot of damage. I needed to get it back, and I needed this man out of my way.

I swore to myself then and there that this thief would come to a very unpleasant end.


	13. A Little Black Box

If you have an existential crisis on a daily basis and you know it clap your hands! *clap, clap*

* * *

Ellie May's P.O.V.

I watched from the window as a handful of shinigami chased after us. The fact that we were even still alive proved that my idea had worked. Now all we needed to do was to lose these flying nightmares.

"They're following us," I said, watching intently. "they're in the air."

Watari was a skilled driver. I was scared we'd crash a few times, but he just kept going as if it was nothing. At some point the police started chasing us, but we lost them quickly. The shinigami was the real problem.

I'd had everyone touch the notebook the moment I got into the car, but Light wasn't following us. L says that tells us he has a limit. Most of his power was coming from the shinigami. I guess he's not above having them do his dirty work for him.

"Where are they?" L's voice came from the old lady sitting next to me.

"They're in a V formation. 4 o'clock."

"Watari, we need to get underground."

He did as L said, driving like a madman into an underground parking lot. An idea came to me, "Hey, does anyone here know how to hotwire a car? If we park this one among all these other cars, then steal a different one, we can get away unnoticed." I can't believe I just said that. Oh sweet fudge, I was becoming a criminal… These people may be a bad influence on me.

"Do as she says," Grandma-L ordered. I felt a sense of pride; L liked my plan. Maybe I was smarter than I thought.

Watari slowed down and parked in one of the more cramped areas. I kept my eyes out for any shinigami as we all piled into a different car. This one was a 2002 Honda Accord in need of a good wash. Nice and ambiguous. Yagami grumbled disapprovingly as Watari hotwired the car, starting the engine like a professional car thief.

From that point on, we drove as casually as possible. L and I kept ourselves mostly out of sight, although I still needed to keep a lookout. After a while of nothing we determined that we were not being followed, and therefore could head home.

I stared at the notebook in my hands. It was black leather with simple lined paper. Light had kept it neat and tidy. The names written in it were lined up perfectly. Light had nice handwriting. A tinge of sadness gripped my heart when I saw how many names had been written down. Sure, they were all criminals, but did they honestly deserve to die?

"You know, I think I figured out what Light's fatal flaw is," I said, "He thinks of everything in black and white. He doesn't understand that nothing is as simple as being only either good or evil. This world is full of contradictions, imperfections, and paradoxes. Kira's great irony is that he's become the very thing he's trying to eradicate."

"Light died long before Near defeated him," Mr. Yagami said, "my son was gone the moment he wrote the first name in the death note. Now he's nothing more than a vessel possessed by Kira."

Poor chief Yagami. I couldn't imagine what this whole ordeal has been like for him. He did everything he could to clear his son's name, and now he's been brought here to live again with the knowledge of what really happened. That'd be hard on anyone.

I stared out the window for a while, wondering about life. If these people who'd come straight out of a story actually existed, then there was possibly a place somewhere where I too was fictional… For all I knew I was just a character in a fanfiction somewhere.

But if that were true, how could I be making my own decisions? Maybe I wasn't. Maybe everything I say and do is all because of some college kid writing all their sorrows and desires into a book. If I am, how did they come up with me? Am I a version of themselves? Am I merely a shadow of some higher being?

Maybe there are so many layers that I'm in a story, and my author is in their own story, and their author is in another story, and so on. There's no way of knowing. Is anything real?

Holy halibut, I think I'm having an existential crisis…

No. I can't allow existential dread to set in. I have a mission. Defeat Kira, save the world, live happily ever after. You hear me, mysterious omnipotent author? I'm talking to you. Yes, you. If you're out there you better not screw this up or so help me, I'll find a way to come to your world and make your life a living hell.

Suddenly my hand reached up on its own and slapped me in the face. "Ouch!" Okay, maybe I spoke too soon, I apologize o-great author of the universe.

Grandma-L looked over to me, "What is it?"

"I just… My arm had a spasm or something." I looked up to the sky, wondering.

I figured I should stop thinking about omnipotent beings for a while. In order to get my mind off things, I started singing. Whenever I sing my mind goes blank and I just let myself get lost in the music. I let my soul choose the song and just have my voice follow it. The whole world disappears and all that's left is me and my heart.

I was the car's personal radio for the rest of the ride. No one said anything the remainder of the trip, so I'll take that as a sign that they didn't hate it. My last song was over right as we passed the iron gates.

"You have quite a voice," Yagami commented.

"Thanks, I've spent years practicing. It took a lot of work to get where I am."

My makeup was starting to bug me, so I took it off right when we got back. Apparently, L had the same thought, because he was already back to normal by the time I got to the control room. However, he did have a smudge of foundation still on his cheek. I suppressed a laugh. He probably hated makeup even more than I did.

He stared at the surveillance cameras from before, biting his thumbnail. He was probably getting a lot more out of it now that he could actually see Light Yagami.

"You should go to sleep," he said without turning around, "it's nearly 2am."

"You should too," I countered.

He merely continued staring at the screens. I turned his chair around and looked him in the eye, "You're not immortal. I'll go to sleep when you do."

He looked at me blankly, "If you wish to stay up, that's your choice."

"I don't, actually. I'm beat. But you need sleep too. Don't be so stubborn, for heaven's sake." I stared at his cheek then sighed, "Okay, I can't take you seriously with that smudge." I grabbed a napkin from the pile next to his tray of sweets and wiped the makeup off. "That's better. There's my Lawliet."

He turned the chair back around to look at the screens again placing his hands on his knees. "Kira is going to try and seek you out. Now that he knows there is someone who can oppose him he'll stop at nothing. This means he won't go far from Las Vegas for now. We need to find a way to get to him while we still know where he is."

"Okay, well, there's not much else we can do for tonight. Let's worry about it in the morning."

"If you're tired, go to bed."

"Alright fine, I didn't want to say this out loud, but I'm scared. I couldn't sleep on my own if I could," I lied, "Please?" I summoned the actress within me, making myself sound weak, tired, and frightened. If it got this stubborn insomniac to rest, then it'd be worth it.

"I can have Watari stand guard outside your door if you wish."

For goodness sake, he's so rigid. "No, that'd be weird, that'll just make things worse." I leaned down so my face was level with his, cradling his chin gently in my hand, "Please, come with me? Just for tonight." I rested my forehead against his, "it'd make me feel a lot better."

He hesitated for a moment, then gave in and leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on my lips. My knees nearly gave out. He had quite an effect on me. He stood up from his chair to hold me closer. I had to work extra hard to stay the good girl I'd always been when I was around him.

Eventually he released me, letting me breathe. He didn't say anything else as I finally convinced him to go to sleep. I tried to stay awake until he drifted off to keep him from going back down the control room, but I was a lot more exhausted than I thought. I fell asleep cradled in Lawliet's arms. It was warm and comfy and perfect.

I could get used to this.

* * *

To my surprise, L was still there when I woke up. He was sleeping soundly, intertwined with me. My body had had its fill of sleep, but that didn't mean I couldn't sit there for a while.

I sat, happily listening to L's heartbeat for the longest time. It made me smile thinking about how this heartbeat belonged to me, especially when all his life he had done nothing but push people away to the point where he wouldn't even show up in public if he could avoid it. For whatever reason, he had let me in, and that felt amazing.

After a while I could feel him waking up. His eyes opened slowly, taking in his surroundings. He sat up, scratching at his wild bed head. "Hmmm… Morning."

"Good morning," I gave him a kiss on his cheek, "did you sleep well?"

"No worse than usual," he responded. With that he stood up and left the room.

"Alright then," I said to the empty room. I decided to change out of my pajamas and get ready for the day. I should have been going to class, but with everything that's happened lately it just feels silly; why spend time doing equations when they do nothing to affect the world? I can do a lot more here. Besides, I'm the only one who can see the shinigami, L might need me.

I briefly wondered if I would even want to finish school. Even if I got my musical theatre degree, it wouldn't do much to help catch Kira. And if he wins, having a degree won't be much use, since the world as we know it will likely be over. Not to mention I'll probably be dead. I've royally pissed off the most dangerous serial killer that's ever existed.

I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as I walked down to the control room. He didn't know who I was. He thought I was a man anyway, and he has no clue that L is here.

L. He'll catch Kira; I have no doubt about it. If anyone can take Light Yagami down it's L Lawliet. He wouldn't lose this time.

For the next several months we were in monitor mode, watching Light search for me. He got a new death note somewhere. L almost wrote Light Yagami's name in the notebook, but I stopped him. "It won't do anything," I said, "He's dead already. Don't risk your soul for an experiment."

I was given the daunting task of watching the monitors whenever Light showed up. I counted a total of 23 different shinigami, including Ryuk and the big scary one that I think is the king. I sketched them out as best I could so everyone else could have a reference.

Light had set up shop in an abandoned hotel. Every day he set out a team of 13 shinigami to look for the man who stole his notebook. Luckily, he's had no success so far.

After a while, people finally started to suspect that these were murders. Since they were so similar to the ones from the anime, they named him Kira as well. They had no idea how right they were. Investigators all over the world were looking for him with no success.

It didn't take long for my grades to start suffering. Eventually I dropped out altogether so that I could focus on defeating Kira. It took a lot of excuses to explain it to my parents, who were livid at my decision.

"Ellie Isbell May, you explain yourself right now," my mother's voice was dangerous. She was on the border of exploding.

"Mom, I told you, my job is getting in the way. I don't have time for school right now." I couldn't give in. As angry as my parents get, I couldn't tell them the truth for their own sake. They'd never believe me anyway.

"What kind of job could you possibly have that takes all your time? College is far more important than whatever you're doing." Oh, mom, if you only knew…

"I'm sorry, I know you're angry, but-"

"Angry? I'm way past angry. I'm damn pissed. I don't understand what you're doing and I don't think you do either."

"Mom, please-"

"I want you either explain to your boss that you can't work so often or quit, because you are not dropping out of school. That's final."

"Mother, listen to me!" I snapped. "I know you love me, and I get that you're just trying to look out for me, but I am an adult. I trust your judgement, but I trust my own too. I'm not some child who is incapable of understanding that decisions come with consequences, I know exactly what I'm doing. You don't have all the details, so please, just trust me for once!"

"I don't think you know what you're doing. Don't throw away your future for a single job."

I growled, frustrated, "Mom, I won't say it again. I'm not changing my mind. Besides, I can always go back to school. You yourself are applying for grad school after how many years? I'm doing what's best for myself, try and trust that." I hung up before she could respond and sat back in my chair, running my hands over my face. "Ugh… I wish I could just tell her the truth."

"Even if they believed you, your parents would only worry about you. You can't tell them for their sanity's sake," Mr. Yagami spoke up. I suppose he ought to know, he wasn't too keen to let his son work on the Kira case when L suggested it. With all the people dying my parents might have heart attacks of their own if they knew, and not because they were written into the death note. My poor mother would go mad with worry, especially since I'm the one Kira is specifically trying to hunt down.

"It just hurts that they don't think I can handle myself. I've never given them a reason not to. They know I'm honest and responsible, and yet they treat me like some incapable child. Why don't they trust me?"

"It's not that they don't trust you, it's that they're scared. If I were in their shoes, I'd probably react the same way. It's part of being a parent."

"Yeah, I guess so…" The stress was getting to me. "But if I could just give them some reason as to why I dropped out I could give everyone some closure. I don't want to set this kind of example for my little sisters. What if they end up dropping out in the future too because of this? And my brother will probably laugh at me for being too stupid to handle college or something. I don't think I'll be able to face my family for a while."

"You stop that."

I looked up, "What?"

"You're working day and night to protect not only your family, but every man woman and child on this earth. Without you, they would grow up in a world where Kira's word is the only law. Someday, when this is all over, you can tell them everything and they'll be proud of your decision. And when we succeed, there's a good chance you'll go down in this world's history. They have lots to be proud of."

I smiled, "Thanks Mr. Yagami. I guess I need reminding now and again that not everyone thinks I'm a total loser." My face fell, "Still, even one reason other than some vague job position might put my parent's minds at ease."

I could make up some lie like saying I were pregnant, but they know me too well, they'd never believe it. I could say I was having health problems, but they would want to talk to my doctor, so they'd know that was a lie too. I could say I got expelled for cheating, but then I'd be disgraced and never hear the end of it.

"I could fake my own death," I joked, "They'd leave me alone then."

Mr. Yagami did not look amused.

"Kidding, gosh, lighten up once in a while."

L walked in, casing an automatic smile to spread across my face. Recently just seeing him was enough to cheer me up. "That's not a bad idea," he said quietly.

My mouth dropped open, "What? You can't mean that!"

"No need to be so serious," he turned to look at the monitors.

Mr. Yagami glowered, clearly not happy with Lawliet's sense of humor. I let out a sigh of relief. I already know that L wasn't above faking someone's death. After all, he did exactly that for Matsuda.

"We still need someone that's from this world. Faking your death would solve nothing." He took a massive bite of cake, talking with his mouth full, "Om – Besides, I've come up with a way to ease your parent's concerns. I'm afraid them constantly calling to chew you out is beginning to impede the investigation."

I perked up, "Really? How?"

"Tell them you're engaged," he swallowed and took another huge bite.

My mind went completely blank. "Um… what?"

"Tell them you got engaged and are moving to Japan with your fiancé. Kira is about to move on. I sent him a fake trail that leads to Tokyo. He'll follow it out of the country. That means we need to move this operation to Japan as well."

What exactly was he saying?

"Why Tokyo," Mr. Yagami asked, "Why would that be any better than here?"

"Your son grew up in Japan. He'll feel more comfortable there. If he gets comfortable, he's more likely to make a mistake. The high population is also ideal for masking our presence, making Japan the best possible place to defeat him."

"Hold on," I said after I had found my voice again, "but if I say that, they'll want to meet my fiancé, and they'll insist on going to the wedding. They'd come all the way to Japan if they had to in order to attend. They'll see right through the lie."

He kept looking at the monitors while he spoke, "So don't lie." He took another bite of cake.

"What are you talking about? Are you suggesting we get married for the sake of the investigation?"

"It would be the best course of action, yes."

That made me mad. I stood up, my hands clenched into fists, "How dare you?"

He looked at me, "How dare I what?"

"I refuse to marry someone purely for the sake of some investigation. I don't care if my parents calling out of concern for my well-being is annoying for you, I won't get married unless I know the person I'm marrying actually _wants_ to marry me. I won't just be a means to an end." I was fuming. I wouldn't have been surprised if my face was beat red.

He leaned forward in his chair, staring me down, "what makes you think I don't want to?"

My anger was gone in an instant, replaced with cautious confusion. "I… Um… Huh?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box. He held it up in the odd way he always held things. My hand reached up automatically to catch it as he tossed it to me. I felt my hands shaking as I opened the box to reveal a diamond ring.

That's when it sunk in that L Lawliet was proposing.


	14. The Shiny Person

The song featured in this chapter is called When Love Comes from Death Note the Musical. I highly recommend listening to it. I'm actually planning on singing it at my friend's wedding, it's a gorgeous song.

Also, I'd love to hear your theories on how you think Ellie can see the shinigami. I'm trying to decide if I should do the reveal soon or if I should wait until later. Review and let me know what you think.

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

Ellie seemed hesitant and flustered, but accepted nonetheless after a good nights sleep. She took several hours to call her family and tell them the news. To my inconvenience, she insisted I stay to talk to them.

"Hello, mom? Yes, I know you're still mad but I have something I need to tell you. – No, it's not about that… Well, okay it sort-of is but – Mom. Mom. Mom. – Can you stop talking for a minute? – Oh, for heaven's sake, I'm trying to tell you the real reason I dropped out. – No, it wasn't really because of a job. – Well, if you'll listen for a minute I'll tell you. – Mom…" she sighed, then just decided to blurt it out, "I'm engaged."

Ellie put the phone on speaker. There was silence for a minute. Then all of a sudden, "OH MY GOSH, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT ARE YOU REALLY!? Scott! Scott, honey, come here, your daughter has news!"

"Yes, that's why I dropped out. I'm going to get married and then live in Japan with my husband."

"I didn't even know you were dating anyone. What's his name? Is he there with you? When is the wedding?"

"Remember that guy Lawrence I told you about? I've been dating him for a while now. He's right here. We're on speaker."

All this seemed like a waste of time to me, but it was necessary to get Ellie's parents off her case so I spoke, "Hello Mrs. May. How are you?"

I spent the next half hour listening to Ellie's mother ramble on about nonsense wedding plans. Her father talked a few times, but didn't speak nearly as much as her mother. I was getting bored when they finally had to go. There was nothing productive in their chatter, it was all pointless. I preferred to only speak if something needed to be said. Most of her family took longer.

Every time they tried to convince us to meet them, she'd come up with a new excuse. We didn't have time for meetings with every member of her family.

When she at last hung up on the final person, she slumped in her chair, "That was exhausting…"

I chewed on my nail. "I agree. Your family is quite extensive."

"Yeah, well, it's a Utah thing. Everyone in my family has at least four kids because there's so much space here. I stopped counting how many cousins I have years ago. I'm the third oldest of almost two-dozen." She paused, thinking. She seemed unsure as to whether she wanted to add something. Eventually she decided to just say it, "Are you sure this is a good idea? Aren't we moving a bit… You know… Fast?" She looked at the ring on her finger.

"If you wish to call it off, then so be it. But remember, the longer we wait to go to Tokyo the more time Kira has to kill people. I doubt your family would be happy about you leaving the country without reason."

She knit her eyebrows in concern, "Yeah, I guess…"

"We don't have to actually get married if you don't want to, but I recommend that you let your family think you are." I watched her as she struggled internally. I could tell she wanted to say yes, but she was scared. That was understandable. I'd only known her for about a year. Still, this was the most beneficial plan. Her family would be off her case, and we could go to Japan without suspicion.

"No, I'm just nervous," she said, taking a deep breath, "I want to do this. I'm sure."

"Good. It would be a problem if you didn't want to. Even though I've never said so aloud, I do like you." That seemed to make her feel better and she smiled for the first time since I put the ring on her finger. I grabbed a strawberry and dropped it into my mouth.

"I like you too," she grinned. "So, when should the wedding be? I know you won't want a big public thing, so we don't need to plan for long."

I messed with my bottom lip, "If you're sure your family will insist on attending we should do so before we leave. We want to draw as little attention to ourselves when we get to Japan as possible. Holding the wedding in japan would not be ideal."

"Alright then, how about a month from now? It can be a small thing. We won't worry about a band or fancy decorations or anything. I'll get a dress and we can just get married in the grove outside. Watari can set out your favorite sweets. It'll be nice and simple."

Knowing her, she'd have preferred a huge, immaculate ball with dancing and music and theatrics. It was good she understood the urgency of the situation. The longer we spent on this, the more people Kira would kill.

I contacted Matt and Mello, informing them of our plans to lure Kira to Tokyo. He may want to take Kira down on his own, but as much as he hated to admit it, he'd need help. He couldn't see Kira like we could. I told them I'd let them touch the death note if they came to the wedding. They were the closest thing – aside from Watari – that I had to family. They grew up as orphans in Wammy's, just like I had.

Ellie's friends kept asking her if she was pregnant. She kept assuring them that no, she wasn't. "He's a businessman," she told them, "He's being called to Japan for his job soon and we wanted everyone to be able to come, that's why we're going so quickly." They all seemed to believe her. She had quite a reputation for being chaste.

The month went by quickly. I tracked Light Yagami as he followed my fake trail while Ellie made all the preparations. She made me get fitted into a tux; That was the extent of my involvement in the process.

When the day came, I got dressed and went outside. Ellie had set up several rows of chairs. There was a harp off to the side. Everything, including the surrounding trees, was covered in flowers. I spotted a long table covered in various treats. My mouth watered looking at them.

Ellie's side of the aisle was overflowing with people, whereas mine had Mr. Yagami, Matt, Mello, and Watari. Matt, surprisingly, was not smoking. I suspected that was at Ellie's request, but that didn't stop Mello from munching on a chocolate bar.

Watari ushered me to the front of the aisle where I was to wait until Ellie arrived. When her family caught their first glimpse of me they started whispering to each other. Most comments consisted of "That's him? He looks weird," "He's so pale and pasty," and, "I heard he's filthy rich." I stuffed my hands in my pockets, waiting for the main guest to arrive so we could get this whole ordeal over with.

A young girl with red hair and blue eyes about 12 years old or so sat down at the harp and began to play a nuptial song. Ellie had showed me a photo of this child a week ago; this was the older one of her two little sisters. A few women walked down the aisle all wearing the same dress. One was guiding a chicken on a leash; Strapped to its head was a cushion on which were the rings.

After a boring, but fortunately short promenade, Ellie appeared. Everyone collectively gasped. She looked even more like an angel than ever. She wore a large, expensive-looking white dress decorated with silver flowers. Attached to her arm was a man that looked a lot like her. Her father. She had obviously gotten her nose and skin tone from him.

She absorbed everything else around us, leaving only her. She had put on makeup, which for her was not normal. She walked toward me slowly until we were standing side by side. My heartrate elevated.

The ceremony was quick and to the point. A few I do's and a kiss later and that was it. Everyone on Ellie's side stood up and cheered. The four people sitting on my side clapped politely. None of them, besides maybe Matt, were enthusiastic types.

We were forced to stand in the same place for the next three hours while all my now-in-laws came to question me. I dodged their questions expertly. Ellie had warned me of their curious nature.

Ellie's youngest sister, a girl with short brown hair and freckles, threatened to murder me if I hurt her sister. It would have been more intimidating if she weren't eleven. Her mother had the most questions for me. "What do you do? – Why are you going to Tokyo? – Are your parents here, I'd love to meet them."

"I'd love to meet them too," I said, "But they're dead, so."

"Oh… I'm sorry. Excuse me," She walked away awkwardly, earning a grimace from Ellie.

I had to explain that I was an orphan on several occasions. Each time I told someone they'd get all sheepish and slink away. That was fine by me. It was a good conversation finisher. I detested small talk.

When Ellie gave me the go-ahead I dove into the desserts. I earned several odd looks as I ate slice after slice of cheesecake. Ellie helped herself to a fair amount of chocolate-covered strawberries.

Ellie gave Watari some signal and he pulled a speaker and phone out from under the table. She pulled me to an empty area. "I wanted at least one dance," she said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "When it's over we can send everyone home and go inside."

I hadn't ever danced, let alone with someone else. She caught on to my hesitation and offered a bit of instruction, "Put one hand on my waist and the other in my hand out here. Follow my lead," she whispered in my ear.

She nodded to Watari and he pressed play. I recognized this as one of the songs from the Death Note musical she had once showed me. It was a song sung by Rem about Misa Amane called When Love Comes. Ellie swayed us back and forth slowly to the music. A few times she lifted our hands up and did a turn. She was truly a stunning sight.

When the song ended, I couldn't help myself. Despite the watching crowd I leaned forward, pulling my bride into a kiss. Everyone started cheering again. They did that a lot I've noticed.

As promised, Ellie gave one final speech, then sent everyone home. Matt and Mello were the first to disappear.

Despite the tiring day, Ellie was still fired up. She had no shortage of energy as we spent the night together officially as husband and wife. She was not shy.

* * *

The next day we boarded a private plane bound for Japan. I'd purchased a building ahead of time. It was ready for when we arrived.

Ellie insisted that Yagami and Watari have their own plane. For someone who had waited so long she had a big appetite. The flight was long, but it was by no means dull. She was my first, but only because I found most people to be boring and idiotic; I'd never met anyone worth the attention.

When we landed, we met back up with Watari and Yagami and all piled into a limousine. Ellie kept a lookout for any shinigami, but didn't see any. Regardless, we didn't take our masks off until we were safe inside.

"It's so different here, but not as much as I thought it'd be," Ellie noted, watching from the window. We were at the top floor of our new skyscraper. These headquarters were not unlike the one I had in my old world.

"Have you never been to Japan before?" I asked, looking out the window and biting my thumbnail.

"No, I've never been outside of the states."

"It was necessary to come here. This is where the best place to get Kira once and for all."

"This is all so surreal… So much has happened in the past year," She frowned.

I sat on one of the armchairs and started stacking a pile of magazines one on top of the other into a tower. Now was not the time to dwell on trivial things. We needed to plan how we would get the other shinigami's death notes. There was a total of 23. That meant we needed to touch 23 notebooks before the rest of us could see everything that Ellie could see.

The question had been itching in the back of my mind from the moment she first spotted Light Yagami on the surveillance cameras. How was she able to see the shinigami without touching their notebooks?

I thought back to the dream I'd had where Ellie had hovered beside me above the shinigami realm, dressed in white and glowing like some heavenly being. Perhaps she herself was some supernatural entity. But then how did she have such a large family? If she weren't human, she couldn't be related to her family. That wasn't likely; She looked very similar to a good deal of them. No, she was definitely related to her family by blood. So how could she see Kira?

"Ellie," I said, getting her attention, "Was there ever a point where you had a dream taking place in the shinigami realm?"

She sounded surprised, "How did you know that?"

I turned in my chair, facing her, "What happened in the dream?"

She thought about it for a moment, "I saw Light standing in the middle of a circle of shinigami. The king said something about helping him with something. Then a shiny figure appeared and touched all the shinigami, leaving a dot on their foreheads. That's all I can really remember."

My eyes widened. This proves it. Someone, or something, was shaping our realities. It's likely that whoever the white figure was knows why Ellie can see things that normal people can't. If I can find a way to contact them, then maybe they can tell me more about her. That's where we have a problem.

"L? Are you okay?" She tilted her head, questioning.

I ignored her, "Were you adopted by chance?"

She raised her eyebrow, "No… Should I have been?" Didn't think so, but if she had been that would have answered some questions.

"Did you have that dream more than once," I asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, I had it three nights in a row. But why is that important?"

"Because, I had the same dream."

"I thought you might have."

Now that was curious. "Why is that?"

"The shiny person. Every now and then they appear in my sleep and talk to me. He said he showed you the same thing. I didn't think anything of it; I've always had weird dreams like that. The shiny person has been talking to me for as long as I can remember."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do they say?"

She played with her bottom lip, thinking. "Well, I think they're a he, but he's so bright I can't see his face so it's hard to tell. Sometimes he just talks to me, asking me about my day, other times he tells me stories."

"What kind of stories?"

"Parables. You know, like in scripture. They're always stories I'm already familiar with. I figured it was just my subconscious being weird; Scientists say that dreams come from unresolved things in your subconscious. They're your brain's way of processing the things that happen throughout the day. They've been a lot more frequent lately, probably due to the massive changes happening in my life. It's my mind's way of coping."

That was a valuable piece of information. Ellie is certainly a fascinating creature. If I'm not wrong – and I never am – then she has a direct line to the figure in white. "Have you ever spoken back to this person?"

She smiled, "All the time. He's really nice. Whenever I'm worried about something he gives great advice. He even told me I should marry you when you asked. I almost said no; I was more than a little surprised by the whole idea."

"I suppose I owe him my thanks." I stood up, stuffing my hands in my pockets, "I need you to do something for me."

"What's that?"

"The next time he appears in your dream, ask him how you can see the shinigami."

She frowned, turning to look back out the window, "I already did."

"What did he say?"

"He got all cryptic. He gave me some riddle. Then he just said that all would be revealed in due time. When I pressed for answers he disappeared and I woke up."

I moved close so our noses were almost touching, "What was the riddle," I questioned, my eyes narrowed.

"He said, 'when the child weeps at the strike of a bloody midnight, the guardian's memories will be unlocked. The guardian will harness their power to imprison the antichrist forever in a world of nothingness.'"

"Are you certain that was his exact wording?"

"It was the most vivid dream I ever had. I have no doubt that that's what he said. I even wrote it down somewhere in case I forgot, but I never did."

"Hm. I see. That is interesting."

"Is it?"

"Yes, it is." I went in search of something sugary while I pondered the meaning of this new bit of information. One thing was certain: Ellie was the key to everything.


	15. Stalker

Don't hate me for this…

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

L was getting into a habit of sitting on his feet and staring at me until I woke up. It was a bit frightening at first, but I was starting to get used to it. I wondered what time he usually woke up; The bags under his eyes were just as prominent as ever. It still hadn't fully sunk in that this was going to last for the rest of our lives, but I wasn't unhappy about the whole thing. L was… talented, if you understand my meaning. He wasn't lying when he told Light that he was a lot stronger than he looks.

Day by day we stalked Light's movements. He was still searching for me. Every now and then L would give a false clue for him to find, just to keep him nearby. It was clear that he was getting frustrated, but he was not giving up.

I was itching to go outside and explore. It had been nearly a month and I hadn't left the tower; Watari was the only one who ever went out, and only for supplies. I was getting a bit sick of chess and monitors. I was starting to understand what Rapunzel felt like. L was good – very good – at keeping me occupied and happy, but I craved to see the rest of the city. Eventually I decided to just come out and straight up ask him to take me somewhere. I knew he was familiar with the city, the only problem was convincing him to go outside.

"Could we please go out for just a day? It's not like Kira will recognize me, he's never seen my actual face. He still thinks I'm a man."

To my surprise, he responded with, "Lately I've been thinking that would be the best course of action," he looked at me sideways, "you get jittery when you're cooped up. We need you at your best. You're still the only one who can see the Shinigami. When it comes time to steal more notebooks, you need to know the layout of the city."

I was overjoyed. I jumped up tackled him flat onto the couch, showering him with kisses, "Yes, thank you! I've been dying to get out of this tower. Where should we go?"

He sat there, letting me bug him, "Kira has been getting into a pattern with his searches. He never looks in the same place twice within a week. We can't risk him seeing me. My name is all over the internet, if he finds out I'm alive, he could kill me again with a wave of his hand. Therefore, we'll go to the part of the city where he searched yesterday. If we stay in that region, it should be relatively safe."

"You should wear a hat and scarf just in case, though. We know he's got access to computers, he could see you through surveillance." I sat up and practically skipped to the closet, "I'll pick you out a nice, simple disguise. Wait there."

He ignored me, following me into the large closet. Watari had filled it with clothes for me; I had left most of my belongings behind when we moved. I had to admit, he had good taste. There wasn't a lot of color, but the clothes were flattering and good for blending in, which was I suppose what we were going for.

"Here," I tossed L a jacket, hat, and scarf. He chewed his nail, watching me get changed into better out-on-the-town clothes. "Will you stop staring and put those on, goodness," I laughed. He was a dork sometimes. He did what he was told, hiding his face and wild hair.

"I'm curious," I thought aloud, "when all this is over and Kira is gone, will you tell people who you are? Can I tell my family and friends your true identity, or will they always have to think your name is Lawrence? It's a bit weird that they don't know my actual new last name."

"I suppose that would depend on the situation. If the danger has fully passed, I suppose it would be acceptable. However, that would be a bridge we cross when we come to it."

"Yeah, I guess so. If the public found out about it, you'd get swarmed by fangirls without a doubt."

"That doesn't sound pleasant," he commented. I couldn't help but laugh. What an odd picture, seeing this sun-starved recluse treated like the celebrity he was in this world. He'd receive no shortage of invitations to be a guest at comic cons and TV shows. Poor L.

"So," I said, latching onto my husband's arm, "where are we off to?"

He led me to the elevator, but instead of going down, we went up. I was confused, until I saw the helicopter. I practically fainted from excitement.

"This is the safest way to get to where we're going without showing our faces in public." We climbed in and he handed me what looked like giant headphones, "put these on."

I did and the world went quiet. These were some strong earplugs, I was almost worried I'd gone deaf until I heard L's voice in my ear, "is this on?"

"Yeah, we're good. Who's the pilot?"

"I am." He started the engine, pressing a bunch of buttons and switches.

"You know how to fly a helicopter?" I strapped myself in.

"It's easy enough to figure out with intuition."

Somehow that did not sound convincing, so I held on for dear life. I was not keen on flying with a student driver.

Surprisingly, he had no problems flying the thing. I guess he'd done this before. We flew above the city for a bit so we wouldn't attract too much attention to our landing. When we did touch down it was on the lawn in the middle of some park. People gave us weird looks, but mostly ignored us.

L pulled the scarf over his face when we got out of the helicopter, protecting himself from prying eyes. I kept a lookout for shinigami, but there didn't seem to be any nearby. I decided to stop worrying and just enjoy myself. I hadn't been outside in weeks. I closed my eyes and tilted my head toward the skies, letting the sun soak into my skin. It felt wonderful. It was warm and bright and perfect.

L led me down a mostly empty street. The buildings were tall and everything was in Japanese. I couldn't understand a single thing anyone was saying. I'm sure I practically screamed tourist, although I suppose I did technically live here now. I wondered if there were any good theatres nearby. I'd have to look it up when we got back.

I saw something at the corner of my eye. I turned around to look, but it was gone just as fast as it had arrived. It wasn't a shinigami, so I shrugged and kept going. I figured it was probably just a native, going about their day.

L had noticed it too. He was less willing to let it go. "Someone's following us," he whispered, "Keep your head down. Don't let whoever it is know that you saw them. We can't let them know we know they're there. They're only watching us for now."

Creepy... I held tighter to his arm.

I whispered back, "How long have they been there?"

"A few blocks."

I started to hyperventilate, but managed to get it under control. I couldn't panic right now. "Who do you think they are?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he walked into a small clothing shop and stole a scarf and sunglasses off one of the racks, "put these on. Don't let him see your face."

I did what he said, ignoring the fact that he just shoplifted, and he led us into a nearby windowless café. We sat down at a table in the corner. It was a good place to keep an eye on the rest of the room. A few minutes later, our stalker came inside and sat down at a table near ours. The person was wearing a mask, So I couldn't see their face, but they had dark hair.

At least we knew it wasn't Light. A waiter came and we ordered two hot chocolates. We talked as if we were a normal couple, making sure not to say anything that would reveal who we were.

"So," I said, summoning my improv skills, "did you get that promotion?" Making up scenes on the fly was a game my theatre friends and I liked to play. I'm pretty good at it if I say do say so myself, not to brag. Except yeah, definitely to brag. I'm amazing.

L caught on immediately, playing along, "Not yet, my boss is still deciding who would be best for the job." He spoke in a completely different voice than usual, sounding more like a normal person than himself.

"Oh, darn. How are we supposed to pay for Alex's tuition without the new salary?"

We kept talking nonsense for a few minutes, hoping the stalker would lose interest and leave. No such luck. I was in the middle of a monologue when the waiter dropped to the ground, clutching his chest. A heart attack.

Immediately after, there was a loud bang like a gunshot and the lights went out. I felt something hit my head and the world faded into nothing.

* * *

When I woke up, my head was throbbing. I was tied to an uncomfortable metal chair and blindfolded. My shoes were missing. What had happened?

"Ah, finally. I was beginning to think I had hit you a little too hard." That voice… I knew that voice. Where had I heard it before?

I tried to speak, but my mouth was covered with duct tape. I heard footsteps on a wooden floor coming toward me. I tried to struggle free of my bonds to get away, but it was futile.

The tape was ripped off my face, releasing my mouth. "Ow! Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?"

"Why can't I see your name and lifespan?"

Name and lifespan? Was this one of the shinigami? No… They wouldn't make footsteps. This was definitely a person. But who?

"Answer me!" the voice was a young man, maybe in his mid twenties.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I feigned ignorance.

"Don't lie to me. What are you?" Where have I heard that voice before… It was on the tip of my tongue. Blood was on the tip of my tongue too; the tape had ripped some of the skin off my lip.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked honestly. What did I look like, a goblin? I certainly hope not.

"I see your face, but I can't see your name or lifespan. Even owners of other death notes have names above their heads. So, tell me, what are you?" He must have the shinigami eyes. If he did, I was just as clueless as to why he couldn't see my name or lifespan as he was. I was just a normal human.

"Death note? What's a death note? Is that some kind of weird cult thing?"

"Fine. If you're going to play dumb I guess I have no choice."

"What are you-" I felt searing pain pierce me in the side. I released an ear-splitting scream as my captor thrust a white-hot poker into my rib.

He yanked it out roughly. "Now," the man said, "tell me what you are."

This was not how I had hoped this day would go.


	16. An Unexpected Encounter

Shout out to Sano Sauro for figuring out Ellie's kidnapper before anyone else. Also, double shout-out to them because they keep talking to me and it makes me happy.

Review and let me know what you think of the chapter.

* * *

Soichiro Yagami's P.O.V.

I was watching the monitors when L burst into the control room, shoving his usual chair aside. It slid across the room on its side. He started typing frantically; not at all like his usual calm and cold self. "What's going on," I asked.

He didn't answer. Instead he pressed a button and spoke into the microphone, "Watari, come here now!"

I stared at the man in front of me. L had never been like this. Ever. Wait… Where was Ellie? She was never far behind him.

Watari came in carrying three ice-cream cones. He held one out to L, but instead of taking it and devouring it like he normally would have, L pushed it away.

"Are you alright?" I asked cautiously.

He stopped attacking the keyboard and slumped over, hands clenched in fists, "They took her," he said quietly.

This was not the same L I had come to know. I had no idea Ellie meant this much to him, I always thought he only married her because she was essential to catching Kira and he didn't want to lose her eyes. I see that there was no way that was the case; He was in hysterics.

"Who took her," I asked.

"I don't know!" he snapped at me, making me jump slightly.

I frowned. "What happened?"

He pulled a disk out of his pocket and sliding it into the computer. More surveillance footage. It showed a relatively quiet street. Two people were going into a building. I couldn't see their faces, but there was no mistaking that they were the Lawliets; Both had very unique and distinguishable ways about them. There were only a few other people there. One was a man wearing a mask. That mush be the kidnapper. He went into the restaurant a few minutes after L and Ellie.

We stared intently at the screen until finally the café door opened again. The inside of the building had gone dark. Ellie was being dragged behind him unconscious, a small streak of blood flowing from her forehead. The man in the mask picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, then checked his surroundings to see if he was being followed. When he saw that no one was there he took off in the same direction he'd come from. A minute or so later L came running outside the restaurant looking around desperately for any sign of his wife.

I looked over to the world's top three detectives. He had suddenly regained his composure, biting his nail with a blank look on his face. "Watari," he said calmly, "Please contact the Tokyo police. Tell them we need access to their traffic cameras. We also need to organize a search party." Watari nodded and left the room.

I raised my eyebrow, "Why would the police let you see the traffic cameras? Here you're just a citizen. You have no renown in this world."

He turned to me, eyes cold and calculating, "You'll remember, there was a time when the police in our world didn't know about me either. I'm sure you can recall how I got your attention in the beginning."

I thought back to the time before L. Everyone was skeptical when he first appeared, but it didn't take long for him to have the support of every police organization in the world.

L stood, rewatching the footage of Ellie's kidnapping on repeat until his phone rang. He picked it up with his thumb and forefinger, hanging it from his hand beside his ear, "Hello? – I see. – Thank you." He hung up. "The Tokyo police have offered their full support."

I stared in awe at the mad genius in front of me. He never ceased to amaze me. It'd be incredible to know what was happening in his mind.

L's phone rang again, "Yes? – Oh, hello Mello. – Yes, that's correct. – If you wish. – Of course. – Alright then. Goodbye." He hung up again.

"Mello?" I asked, "What did he want?" I don't care if Mihael Keehl was a friend of L's, I didn't like him.

"He and Matt will be coming to Tokyo. Apparently, Watari informed them about my wife's disappearance. They want to help." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It's strange having one's successors suddenly the same age. Matt and Mello were always so much smaller than myself."

Was L telling me about his past? He's never discussed personal matters with me before. "I suppose it's not unlike having children," I said, "they grow up faster than you expect." Even if they become psychopathic killers bent on bringing about judgement day… Oh Light…

"No, I guess not."

Watari walked back into the control room holding a USB memory stick. He plugged it in and downloaded a file allowing us access to all the traffic cameras in the city without having to hack each one individually. L tuned in to a specific street. It wasn't the one that Ellie got kidnapped on.

"Why there," I asked, "That's not where you were when she got taken."

"That's where our culprit started to follow us. He was trailing us for a few blocks."

I watched as it showed the newlywed couple walking arm and arm down a street full of people. L said something that made Ellie laugh. They left the screen. They were only visible for about thirty seconds.

"I see… So, it's him," L played with his lip. "But why would he take her? What caught his attention," he said to himself.

"Who? What did you see?"

L rewound the recording, starting it over. "There," He pointed to a dark-haired man sitting at a table drinking coffee. "He looks up, does a double-take when he sees us, then reaches in his bag and puts on a mask before standing up to follow us. That tells us that he saw something he was not expecting. We can also bet that he's staying nearby that coffee shop."

"How do you know that? Maybe he was just exploring the city."

"Not likely. He was carrying a mask in his bag which he clearly wasn't expecting to need; that shows he's a very cautious person. He also has a tendency to stick to a schedule religiously, which means we can either find him here again sometime soon, or he lives very close by."

"There's no possible way you can know that just because of a thirty-second video from a traffic cam."

"No. Actually I know that because I watched the anime we came from to the end."

"What? That man is from our world?"

"Yes, he is. Although he didn't appear in Ellie's closet, which means we can't rule out the possibility that there are more of us here."

"Well, who is it?"

He turned to look at me. His eyes bore into mine as he whispered the name, "Teru Mikami."


	17. Fire Pokers

Warning: Some violence in this chapter.

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

"What are you!?" My captor screamed, stabbing me once again, this time right on the top of my left foot.

I was worried my sock would catch fire, but fortunately it only melted. However, that still left me with the immediate problem of there now being a hot fire poker pressing against my foot. My voice had broken long ago, leaving my screams as nothing but breathy wheezes mixed with hot tears.

At this point I'd stopped struggling. All my strength was gone, leaving me slumped in my chair against my bonds. Despite everything, I was proud of my resolve. I stuck to feigning ignorance even through everything my captor did to me. I didn't want this man to find out about L. If he did, my husband would be killed. Still, my kidnapper was relentless, and he loved his fire pokers. I would likely have these burn scars the rest of my life.

How long that life would be was uncertain at this point. I was starting to hope my kidnapper would just get it over with and stab his blasted poker through my heart. The knowledge of L's existence would die with me and I could watch over him as he catches Kira.

No. I can't think like that. How many people would be devastated at my passing? L, my siblings, my parents, my friends, all the people relying on me to take down Kira; If I was truly the only one who could see the shinigami then without me the world would be lost. I had to hold on. For them. For everyone. It was just a little pain… right?

I couldn't tell how much time had gone by, but based on the number of times my kidnapper left and returned hours later, it must have been days. They still hadn't removed my blindfold.

It still itched in the back of my mind, trying to figure out his voice. I know this person from somewhere. They had to own a death note and have the shinigami eyes, otherwise they wouldn't be rambling nonsense about not being able to see my name and life span.

I had no idea why he couldn't see my name or life span. I wasn't even wearing makeup, let alone a disguise. Maybe his eyes were wearing off. Was that a thing? It had to be, I wasn't anything special. I was a regular human just like anyone else.

I wanted to see L. He'd keep me safe from fire pokers, all while coming up with ingenious theories as to what was going on. Thinking of him was the only thing getting me through this ordeal. I'd always heard of torture, but I never could have imagined what it was really like. At this point, I was sure that the only thing keeping me together was sheer strength of will.

I felt another jab in the same place on my foot, forcing a sob out of my tired throat. What I wouldn't give for a drop of water…

"Answer me," the voice said, patience wearing thin, "What are you?"

I wanted to say something snarky, but my voice wasn't working. All I got out was a croak and a violent cough. It was just another pain to endure. L would find me. He had to. If anyone could track someone down with next to nothing to go on it was him.

As if on cue I heard a second voice, then a third, then a fourth. A whole hoard of people was running toward us shouting in Japanese. I heard a door being beat down, followed by gunshots. I remembered from somewhere that Japanese law prevented citizens from owning guns, which meant these were either more criminals or they were the police. I hoped it was the latter.

I heard the fire poker drop to the ground and someone removed my blindfold. I squinted against the sudden burst of light, but felt a flood of relief when I saw Mr. Yagami kneeling in front of me, cutting my bonds.

Without the ropes, I had nothing holding me up. I fell, but Yagami caught me before I could hit the ground. I tried to speak, but again, nothing would come out. All that screaming had seriously damaged my vocal chords. I hoped they would heal. To lose my voice would be to lose a part of my soul.

I had just enough strength to look around the room. I was in what looked like an apartment. I had been right about the wooden floor. Cut into the wall was a hearth with a roaring fire. Several different fire pokers were stuck into the coals, heating up. The man who had been torturing me was being held by three policemen working to wrestle him into handcuffs. He was screaming, "You will all be deleted! God will have justice!"

I finally knew where I recognized the voice from. This was Teru Mikami. I don't recall him showing up in the closet. That meant people from their world didn't have to arrive in the same place.

I was too weak to think about it any further. I relaxed, letting Mr. Yagami take care of me. He lifted me in his arms, cradling me like a child. He carried me up a narrow staircase. So, I was in a basement. That explains why no one had come to investigate my blood-curdling screams.

Yagami set me down on a stretcher, allowing paramedics to inspect the damage. They rushed me into an ambulance and Yagami climbed in, giving me a comfortable and familiar presence.

I was vaguely aware of him talking to me, trying to keep me awake, but I was far too tired to bother. Knowing I was in safe hands, I allowed my strength to finally give out. The world was swallowed by darkness.

* * *

I dreamt that the shiny person appeared, pulling me into a comforting embrace. He let me cry into his shoulder as I told him all about what had happened. He said nothing until I felt myself once again waking up.

As the dream faded he told me, "You are one step closer, dear one."


	18. Against the Odds

Important reveal coming up… Be ready.

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

I hired private doctors and had them move into the tower to take care of Ellie. She was moved from the hospital to the tower's medical quarters. I interviewed each doctor individually until I was certain none of them had any connection to Kira. This allowed me to stay out of the public eye while still giving her the medical attention she needed.

And she desperately needed it.

She had been repeatedly stabbed, the skin on her lip was torn, she had a dark bruise on her forehead, and her vocal chords had been damaged from excessive screaming. The only reason she was still alive was that most her wounds were cauterized. Mikami had been careful not to strike her anywhere vital, which means it wasn't attempted murder, it was an interrogation. Could Kira have found out she was the one who stole his death note? No, then he'd simply have sent a shinigami to kill her. There was some other reason for this crime.

Whatever it was, Mikami would be serving a very long sentence for this, I would make sure of it. He'd gone out of his way to hurt her as much as possible. So, for retribution, he would live a miserable life in solitary confinement. He'll slowly go mad. An eye for an eye.

I sat on my feet, watching her as she slept.

"Sir," one of the doctors walked in, carrying a clipboard.

"Yes?" I responded, not bothering to look over.

"There's something we found that you should know. Your wife-"

He was cut off as Ellie let out a loud, rough cough. She opened her eyes, squinting painfully at the ceiling. She was awake.

The doctor ran over to her side, checking her vitals. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

She tried to speak, but all she could get out was a raspy breath. "That's alright," the doctor said, "don't worry. You're safe." He helped her to sit up.

She weakly lifted her bandaged arms, rubbing her throat. There were tears in her eyes. She turned her head, spotting me. The steady beeping measuring her heartrate got a little faster. She reached out her hand toward me. I gave her fingers a gentle squeeze to let her know I wasn't going anywhere. I wouldn't be letting her out of my sight again for a long time.

She let go and started flapping her hands about. It looked like sign language, but it was not a form I was familiar with. She was American, after all. American sign language was very different from English or Japanese sign. She never told me she knew sign language...

I pressed the button to the microphone next to me, "Watari, please bring a pen and notepad in here at once." She dropped her hands and rolled her head back, looking at the ceiling. It looked like I would not get to hear her voice for a while.

A few minutes later Watari came in with the notepad, followed by Matt, Mello, and Soichiro. I didn't contact her family; they'd only get in the way and insist she move back to the states. The doctors said she should eventually be fine, so it didn't matter anyway.

Matt and Mello had helped to track down Teru Mikami's home. He'd kept Ellie tied up in his living room. When he wasn't out and about he was at home, torturing her. If Matt and Mello hadn't decided to help, it could have taken another week to find her. Based on her condition, she wouldn't have survived that long.

"Hey there, gorgeous," Matt greeted, putting out his cigarette on a table.

Ellie offered a weak smile to her new visitors.

"God, you look awful. What'd that bastard Mikami do to you?" Mello lisped, breaking off a chunk of chocolate with his teeth.

Her eyes glazed over for a moment, a grimace crossing her fingers.

"How are you feeling?" Mr. Yagami asked.

At that she took her notepad and, with shaking hands, wrote " _Take a wild guess,_ " holding it up. Her handwriting was not as tidy as usual. Instead it was sloppy and inept. She was thrown into another violent coughing fit.

"What's the matter? Lost your voice or something?" Matt raised his eyebrow.

She glared at him, but her façade changed as she broke down into tears. She covered her eyes with her hands, attempting to shield herself. Matt and Mello stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Ellie was not a crier. I wanted to pull her into a hug, but in her condition it would only hurt her more, so I held myself back.

Mr. Yagami, who in our world had had a wife and a daughter, grabbed a tissue out of a box and gently pulled her hands off her bruised face. He lightly dabbed the tears off her face, stroking her hair. "It's alright, you're safe now."

That seemed to calm her down a bit, but silent tears still fell as she wrote another message, " _Thanks for finding me_."

"Happy to," Matt said, giving a smile and a wink under his goggles, "your husband here was distraught. Honestly, I've never seen him so upset about anything. I think you might be his weakness. He could barely think without you."

She looked over to me and gave a genuine smile, full of hope.

"Aren't you going to talk to her too," Mello looked at me, "now's a good time, while she's still awake."

I racked my brain, trying to think of something relevant to say, but all I got out was, "So… How are you feeling?"

Everyone in the room collectively sighed in exasperation. "Is that really all you have to say?" Mr. Yagami demanded.

I looked at Ellie. She was laughing. She reached up, ruffling my hair, then wrote a new message, " _You're too cute you dork_." She grabbed the front of my shirt, tugging on it. I leaned forward and placed a kiss on her nose. That was one of the only places that didn't look battered. She held my cheek in her bandaged hand, breathing me in. I didn't need words to tell her how relieved I was that she was alright.

"You went through quite an ordeal," the doctor interrupted, "can you tell us what you remember?"

I sat back down, chewing on my thumbnail. Ellie wrote a new message, " _I didn't lose my memory if that's what you're worried about. I remember all too well what happened._ " She frowned.

"Of course. My apologies. Want some ice-cream?" the doctor offered.

She nodded. " _Cookie-dough flavored if you have it_."

"Sure," he chuckled, "Whatever you want," then started out the door.

"One for me too," I said.

"Us too," Mello ordered.

"Anyone else," I asked, looking at Watari and Yagami. They shook their heads.

The doctor didn't look too pleased at becoming an errand boy, but went nonetheless. Matt smirked, watching him leave.

She held the pad up, " _I thought you guys were gone, doing your own investigation or something_."

"We were, but we heard you were in trouble, so we hopped on a flight to come and save your sorry ass," Matt joked.

" _Don't start thinking I'm some helpless damsel in distress_."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Mello took another bite of chocolate.

" _What's going to happen to Mikami?_ "

I felt anger surge through me at the filth who'd hurt her, "he is going to pay dearly for touching you."

"So," Mr. Yagami said, "What exactly happened?"

Ellie frowned, then took a long time writing. When she turned to show it to us it said, " _He blindfolded me and tied me to a chair. I think he owns a death note, because he must have the shinigami eyes. He kept yelling at me, saying he couldn't see my name or life span. He would stab me with a hot fire poker, then yell at me asking what I was. I pretended not to know anything about the death note._ "

I stared, reading the note over and over. If Mikami had the shinigami eyes, but couldn't see Ellie's name or life span, then this could be a game changer. She'd be able to move about the city freely to track down and get the shinigami's notebooks without a disguise.

"How is that possible," Mello demanded, "Even owners of the death note have their names visible when looked at with the shinigami eyes. But you're saying he looked directly at you and saw nothing?"

" _I'm just as confused by it as you are, but yes_." She shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes, thinking, "It's possible that this has to do with the reason you can see the shinigami without touching their notebooks. In fact, I have no doubt. There is something very unique about you. What could it be, I wonder?"

" _The shiny person came again. He said I was 'one step closer.' I'm not sure what he meant, maybe you can make sense of it?_ "

"Who's the 'shiny person'?" Matt questioned, eyebrow raised.

The doctor walked back in, carrying several ice cream cones. He gave Ellie the biggest one, then passed the rest out to Matt, Mello, and I. I let the frozen treat cool my mouth as I thought about the figure in white.

"Mello," I said, "what can you make of this riddle…" I swallowed, "When the child weeps at the strike of a bloody midnight, the guardian's memories will be unlocked. The guardian will harness their power to imprison the antichrist forever in a world of nothingness."

"Well," he said, "it would be nice to know the context. Why is it relevant?"

"It may have something to do with the reason Ellie can see the shinigami. Or not. Truthfully it could be anything." I took another bit of ice-cream.

" _It was something the shiny person told me_ ," Ellie wrote.

"Who?" Mr. Yagami questioned.

" _He comes to me in my dreams and talks to me. Sometimes he gives me advice, sometimes he tells me stories, sometimes he gives me cryptic riddles like that_."

I explained, "I have a theory that he is another entity, like the shinigami, but of a different sort. Why he chose Ellie for this, I don't know, but whatever the reason, we should try and decipher his meaning."

"Excuse me sir, there's something-" the doctor got interrupted again

"Look at it piece by piece," Mello took another bite of chocolate, "'When the child weeps' could mean any kid crying for any reason. 'bloody midnight' might have to do with a particularly violent night-"

The doctor tried again, "Sir."

"-Perhaps Kira is going to do some sort of huge massacre all at once and it causes some other shinigami-like supernatural being to awaken?"

"Maybe, but it's not like Kira killing people would be anything new," Matt said.

This time the doctor nearly yelled in order to be heard, "Sir!" Everyone looked at him in annoyance.

I almost dropped my ice-cream, "What is it? There's no need to blurt unexpectedly."

He cleared his throat. "As I've been trying to tell you, Ellie is pregnant."

That was not what I had been expecting. Everybody gawked at him, mouths hanging open. Ellie beamed.

The silence was broken by Matt punching the air, "YEAH! Congratulations, that's great news! Nice job," He smacked my back, "you guys had a little too much fun, didn't you?" He winked at Ellie. She blushed.

The doctor cleared his throat again, shutting him up. He adjusted his glasses, "Under normal circumstances, yes, it would be happy news. However, in her case…"

"What are you saying," Mr. Yagami demanded.

"Maybe I should talk to you two alone," He looked at me pointedly.

I took another bite of ice-cream, "No, it's quite alright. They'll find out about whatever is going on sooner or later. It'll save time to simply tell everyone at once."

"Very well," he said, "I won't sugar coat it," he looked at Ellie, "with the state your body is in, it simply cannot undergo a pregnancy. If you carry it to term, then the process of giving birth might be too much for your body to handle. If you have this baby, the chances of your survival are slim."

Everyone looked at Ellie as she processed this. She scratched a message, " _But that'll be months from now. Won't I be at least partially healed by then?"_

"Well, yes, but you've undergone extensive trauma. You'll need more than a few months to heal before your body can handle something so strenuous."

I bit my thumb while Ellie wrote another note, " _So what are my options?_ "

The doctor sighed, "Well, at this point there are only two things you can do. One: You can carry the baby to term and hope that you survive, or two: you abort and live for certain. The fetus is still very small, you're only about two weeks along, so if you do decide not to chance it-"

She stopped him, writing a new note, " _If I keep it, what is the likelihood that I'll live?_ "

"I'd say about a 3% chance."

"Ellie," Mr. Yagami said softly, "No one will blame you if you decide to abort."

" _I'm keeping it_."

I didn't want her to make a rash decision. "Let's value our lives. Do you need to sleep on it?"

She shook her head, determination on her face, circling the note again, " _I'm keeping it._ "

"As you wish. Tell me if you change your mind," the doctor wrote something on his clipboard. "Push that button if you need me." He left, closing the door behind him.

"3% isn't a lot to go on," Mello commented.

Ellie waved it off, writing another note, " _There was a time when I was positive of there being a 0% chance that any of you would show up in my closet. And yet, here we are_. _My instincts say to keep the baby, and they've never steered me wrong. Have a little faith, I have a good feeling about this._ "

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better about it. Are you sure you're just not being prideful? You shouldn't play with your life like this," Mr. Yagami said.

She crossed her arms and stared him down.

"I think you have her answer," I said, finishing off my ice-cream.

He looked at me angrily, "How can you just sit there so calmly? Have you no heart?"

I ignored him, playing with my bottom lip. I stared at Ellie's stomach.

"Whatever, do what you want," Mello said, "Matt and I are done here, so we're going to go back and try to catch Kira, or have you all forgotten about the insane serial killer on the loose?"

Ellie wrote a new note, " _Thanks for finding me. Good luck!_ " She drew a little heart at the bottom of the page.

Matt smiled, "Later, gorgeous. We'll be seeing you around. Just don't die, or I'll kill you, got that?"

She rolled her eyes playfully and offered a wave as they left. Yagami and Watari excused themselves and followed, leaving us alone.

When they were gone, she scribbled another note, " _So, about Kira… I won't be any help getting the shinigami's notebooks while I'm like this. What do we do_?"

"We'll have a few monitors brought down here and have you work from your bed. We still need your eyes to know what he's up to. He hasn't broken his pattern of killing criminals since he's gotten to Tokyo. In the meantime, focus on getting better." My eyes once again flickered to her belly. Did I really put a living being in there?

Ellie placed her hand on her stomach, smiling gently. It didn't take long for her to fall back asleep. I didn't disturb her; she needed the rest.

I called Watari and asked him to bring three monitors to Ellie's medical room. Our operation was not going to halt just because of a few injuries. There was no time to waste.

We may end up having only nine months left to catch Kira.


	19. Droning On

I've been listening to Death Note the Musical on repeat for days on end, purely because it helps me write this story. You know what else helps? Reviews. So, I _beg_ of you, write a review and save me from this eternal loop. (Seriously, I feel like I'm going mad.)

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

This sucked. On top of my burns and bruises, I felt sick all the time, and I kept getting upset for weird reasons. I still couldn't get out of bed, even though it's been three weeks. I had to have a few operations to realign my ribs and the bones in my feet.

L wouldn't leave. It was nice, but sometimes it got a little annoying. I needed me time at least once in a while. I once overheard him telling Watari he didn't want to miss a single minute, just in case I didn't make it. At the time, he'd thought I was asleep. It's sweet and all, but a single day wouldn't hurt, would it?

At least my voice was coming back. It was healing quickly. The doctors said they didn't know why, but I'm pretty sure it's because I have a strong voice. I've trained it for years to withstand stress. It was still raspy, but at least I could talk without using a note pad.

The doctor came in to take an ultrasound. The gel was cold and felt weird but I forgot everything – including my painful burn scars – when I saw the picture of our baby. It was small and funny-shaped and perfect. It had a heartbeat.

L played with his bottom lip, staring at it curiously. He tilted his head, "It doesn't look like a baby."

"Of course not," I laughed, "it's only been forming for a month and a half. What'd you expect?"

He chewed on his nail and shrugged.

"Kaneko, when can I get off this stupid bed? I want to try walking around."

He adjusted his glasses and moved the ultrasound to a different angle, "When the swelling in your foot goes down. Until then, Mrs. Lawliet, you're staying right there, whether you like it or not." (L had decided he was worthy of being entrusted with our real names. Mostly because I apparently told him while I was high on painkillers from the surgeries. Oops.)

The good doctor had been growing increasingly caustic with me. It didn't help that L and I told him not to be so formal. He was too… doctor-y before, even though both L and I could sense that he was holding back a thousand witty quips behind those glasses of his. Since he was around all the time, we told him to let loose a little. It was kind of entertaining when he started to get sarcastic. Sometimes I get bored and test just how snarky he'll get. I think he liked us though; He could get salty, but he never went too far. At this rate, he'll probably end up becoming a family friend. Maybe I'll teach my baby to call him uncle, just to see how he'll react.

The other doctors had gotten sick of L's quirks and quit within a week. It suited us just fine, they were all so boring and didn't really do much to help. Dr. Kaneko was the only one actually doing anything productive.

"Looks like your kid is doing well. Certainly better than you will be if you try to stand before I say," He looked at me pointedly.

"Yeah, ok, I get it. But could I just-"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"Don't care. The answer is no."

I pouted, slumping back against the pillows, "humph."

"Giving up so easily?" L asked. "How disappointing. You must be tired today. Maybe you should get some sleep."

"Are you trying to start something," I challenged, "Because I _will_ finish it."

"Hush up, feisty, he's right. You should go to sleep." Kaneko wiped the gel off my belly and put the ultrasound tools away.

"I'm not tired. If I tried to take a nap right now, I'd just end up sitting there with my eyes squeezed shut until I went crazy."

"Don't lie to me, your eyes are already droopy. Besides, at this stage in your pregnancy you're supposed to be tired, it's normal. So, shut your mouth, swallow that pride of yours, and take a damn nap." He shut off the lights and walked out. I briefly wondered what he did when he was gone. By contract, he wasn't allowed outside of the tower in case of an emergency so what did he do all day? Read? Watch TV? Polish his glasses? I made a mental note to ask him later.

I hadn't realized that I'd fallen asleep until I woke up. L was watching the monitors he'd had Watari set up. One was a news station listing all the people who'd died from heart attacks, the other two were watching the place that Light Yagami had made into his own personal headquarters. He was sitting down at a computer writing down names surrounded by 10 shinigami. The other 13 were probably out searching for me. I wanted to reach right through the screen and tear the pen from his hands. How could he take lives so easily? I felt bad if I even accidentally gave someone a scratch.

"Remind me," I said, getting L's attention, "why we can't just go and grab Light? We know who and where he is. What else is there to discover?"

"Because," He had a lollipop in his mouth, "He's not a living human being. How would we grab him? He'd walk right through us. We can't touch him. We need to find a way to stop him with that in mind."

He was way too sexy when he was thinking. I cursed Mikami for the injuries he gave me. L wouldn't touch me, even when I asked him to; he was too scared to make my injuries worse. It was all that jerk Teru's fault. Stupid kidnapper…

Still, that doesn't mean he can't kiss me. There is absolutely no risk involved in that, and yet, he gives his lollipop more attention than his own wife. I internally groaned. Why does he have to be so cautious? I wasn't _that_ fragile.

Doctor Kaneko walked in and gave L an odd look, "God, L, do you ever sleep?"

"Not really," I answered for him.

"I don't understand what you see in him," Kaneko whispered to me, "he must be damn good in bed."

"Yeah, when he's not scared of breaking me," I complained.

"It should be fine as long as he doesn't touch anything too tender."

"So… Basically everywhere."

"No, not the more important parts." He smirked at me and adjusted his glasses.

I sighed, "Tell him that."

L pretended not to hear us, still staring at the monitors.

"So, what brings you here today? Did you finally decide to take me on at karaoke?"

"I'm here to poison your IV," He said sarcastically. "What do you think I'm doing here? We need to change your bandages."

"Ugh, finally. They're getting itchy."

"Hate to break it to you, but the new ones will be just as bad. Welcome to your new life."

"Can't they make them out of softer cloth? I thought bandages were supposed to make patients feel better, not worse."

"Do you feel worse than when we started? Because if you do, that has nothing to do with itchy cloth."

"Shut up, you know what I mean." We glared at each other fondly. The doctor was steadily gaining best-friend status, but that may have to do with the fact that he was the only person I ever saw other than my husband nowadays. Honestly, could my friends never pick up their phones and send me a text now and then? You'd think they forgot all about me.

"Alright, sleeves up, let's check out those burns." I took my T-shirt off – not without difficulty – so he could get to my stab wounds.

Something pinched me. "Ow! What was that?"

"Hold still, would you? Geez, you're like a toddler."

"A toddler wouldn't be paying you fourteen-hundred dollars a day."

"Touché." He unwrapped the old bandages and checked my rib. I looked down to see a massive bruise around a few small, but extremely painful, stab wounds.

"That's it," L said out of nowhere.

"That's what?" I asked, looking at the screen.

"The notebooks must be coming from the shinigami king." He finished off the lollipop and tossed it behind his shoulder into the trash can without looking.

"Okay, that's all well and good," I said, "but that still leaves us with the immediate problem of having the only person who could possibly see him bed-ridden. Even if you wanted to you couldn't just waltz up to him and be all 'hey, could you maybe not give a mass-murder the most dangerous weapon known to mankind?' You wouldn't be able to see or hear him without touching his death note."

"You know, I think you two might be delusional. I can recommend a good psychologist," Kaneko quipped, not bothering to look up from his work.

We ignored him. "I've given that a fair amount of thought and I have a plan. It may or not work, but it's worth a shot."

Kaneko jabbed, "Spit it out, Lawlipop."

I admit, I was impressed. Most people are too intimidated by L to sass him. Lawlipop… I'd have to remember that one.

"You're still going to be the one to take his death note, but you're going to do it from here."

I knit my eyebrows, confused, "He never goes out with the search parties, how would you get him here?"

"I wouldn't. He can stay right where he is. In fact, I'm counting on it."

"You've lost me. So, I'll be staying here, he'll be staying there, but I'm still the one who's going to get his death note?"

"Yes."

"Okay… How?"

"Tell me, Ellie, have you ever played video games?"

* * *

The drone was hard to maneuver. I'm sure Matt would have been a lot better at this than I was, but that would defeat the whole purpose of all this, so I did my best not to make the robot crash into any buildings.

"Okay, do it again. Try and grab that can on the ground there in one try."

I finally succeeded after about a dozen attempts. After that I pretty much had it down, no thanks to Kaneko who had been laughing at me the whole time.

"Good. Now that you know what you're doing, pick up the other remote. That one is connected to a drone placed nearby Kira."

"So, I've only been picking up bits and pieces," Dr. Kaneko commented, "But Kira is the bad guy, right?"

"Yes," I said, lifting the drone off the ground with the remote, "Kira is the one who's been making all those people die of heart attacks. He's a serial-killer, and we're the only ones who have a chance at stopping him."

"Yeah, ok." He adjusted his glasses.

I concentrated on getting the drone in through an open window. Light was still sitting at a computer, writing names.

I zoned in on the shinigami king and moved the drone behind him, hoping to sneak in behind him. As the drone moved closer, I reached out with the mechanical arm and plucked his death note from a pouch on his hip.

"Wha-" the shinigami king turned around and spotted the drone. I drove it away at top speed, weaving in and out of buildings until I was sure we had lost our pursuer. He either wasn't very fast, or he didn't care enough to follow us.

"Do you have it?" L asked, munching on animal crackers.

"Yeah. I got it."

He smiled his odd smile, "Good. Push that red button and the drone will come back here on its own."

I held the remote out to Kaneko, "Care to do the honors?"

He pushed the little red button on the side of the controller and we watched the monitor as the camera flew over the city toward our tower. It went in through an open window into Watari's waiting hands. The camera turned off.

L pushed a button, turning on his microphone, "Watari, please bring the drone to the medical room."


	20. Rely On Me

I got a reviewer asking me to slow down my update rate. They say people "get bored" when a story gets updated too quickly. Thoughts? If they aren't alone in this, I'll certainly take it into consideration. Should I slow down a bit? Review and let your opinions known!

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about health and medicine, I'm making most of this up for the sake of the story. I'd recommend taking it with a grain of salt.

* * *

Yori Kaneko's P.O.V.

The Lawliets were odd, to put it lightly, but I liked them, and not just because they pay me twice the salary of an average doctor; Although that certainly doesn't hurt. I liked them because they're interesting. When they told me to cut loose and not worry about acting too professional, I took it to heart. The only reason I even still bother wear my lab coat is because I think it makes me look hot, otherwise I'd treat Ellie's injuries in a T-shirt and jeans. They wouldn't care.

Ellie had spunk. I'm impressed with how well she'd taken the beating that she had. A lot of people wouldn't have held out that long. She had massive muscular bruising all throughout her limbs and torso, and several third-degree burns. That's not even mentioning the stab wounds she'd endured. I counted 23 separate places where she'd been stabbed, but some areas had been hit multiple times.

And on top of everything, she was pregnant. She's been damn busy.

I almost wanted her to abort. She was pretty much guaranteed to die if she doesn't get rid of it, but no, she was just being a stubborn little jackass. I hate to admit it, but I was growing fond of Ellie and her weirdo husband. She'd better survive or I was going to slug L in the face for not being more careful.

Right now, they were doing some weird thing with a drone, talking about Kira and shinigami and some other nonsense. I'll give them this, when they played pretend, they went above and beyond.

"Care to do the honors?" Ellie held the remote out to me and let me push the little red button on the side.

The drone headed back to the tower – which still blew my mind that they owned; these people were seriously loaded – and the guy they call Watari grabbed it, turning it off.

L spoke into that silly microphone he always insisted on having, "Watari, please bring the drone to the medical room."

While we were gone, Ellie asked, "Kaneko, what's your first name?"

"Doctor," I told her. We'd had this conversation before. At this point, I was just trying to annoy her. It was more than a little entertaining.

"You're no fun," She pouted, playing with her bottom lip.

I adjusted my glasses, "If I'm too boring for you, I can always leave and you can hire someone else," I joked. I knew they'd never fire me, Ellie was in too fragile a state for that. I briefly wondered what she'd look like without all her injuries. Give her a shower and some decent clothes and she'd probably be gorgeous. Right now though, she just looked like a beat-up mess. Pity.

Watari walked through the door carrying the drone. Hanging from the bottom of it was a mechanical arm with nothing in it. They had a strange taste in games.

He held the drone up and Ellie grabbed the imaginary notebook out of the metal clamp.

"Drop in on the ground," L instructed.

She held her arms out an opened her hands, miming dropping an object.

Or at least, I thought she was miming… Until I saw a black notebook appear on the ground. Was this some kind of weird prank? "Where did that come from," I asked.

Ellie rolled her dark eyes, "haven't you been paying attention?"

"Have I been watching you play pretend? Yes. And I gotta say, it's a weird pastime for two adults."

She smirked, "Oh, so you don't believe us? L, love, would you please hand the good doctor here the notebook?"

"Keep your eyes on the screen," L ordered. I decided to play along, looking at their precious monitor. He picked up the notebook and lifted my hand with his thumb and forefinger, placing it on top of the leather. His oddly-long fingers were cold.

On the screen a horrifying monster appeared. I started back a bit, making Ellie snicker. Her laugh sounded a bit creepy with her raspy voice, but not nearly as creepy as the picture on the screen. I'm sure her laugh would be a lot nicer once her voice fully healed. L told me she has quite the singing voice. It was hard to imagine considering I didn't know her before the… incident.

L sifted through a stack of papers. They were drawings, made by Ellie. Once, when I came in to find them both asleep, I looked through them. They were of different monsters, a lot like the one on the screen. She was pretty good. They were remarkably detailed.

Her husband grabbed one of the drawings and held it up to compare with the image on the screen. It was a perfect match. Maybe they were telling the truth after all…

"You should mail Matt and Mello a page," Ellie suggested, "they'll be too proud to ask for help, but they-"

Suddenly she burst into a fit of coughs. I checked her vitals; she was stable.

I wouldn't have been worried if it weren't for the blood on her mouth. This was not good. I adjusted her IV and handed her a tissue.

"Ellie," I didn't attempt to hide the worry in my voice, "are you okay? What hurts?"

She kept coughing, but gestured to her chest.

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to hold still."

She managed to get herself under control. I couldn't help but notice as she tried to muffle a sob. My heart ached for her. She was still suffering immensely, regardless of what she wanted the rest of us to think. L didn't react. He just sat there eating candy. It made my blood boil. Did he not care about her at all?

"Take a deep breath," I told her, holding my stethoscope to her lungs, "Now let it out. Again."

She did what I said and I ran a few tests. There was a small amount of blood in her lungs, probably from all the bruising. She'd be alright, but it would not be fun. "Well, you're not gonna like this," I said, "but it looks like you won't be allowed out of bed even after your feet have healed. The more you move around, the more blood will pool in your lungs."

"But-"

"No. You're not moving. That's final."

She looked ready to cry. I had to look away before it got to me.

I adjusted my glasses, "Yori."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Yori. That's my first name." I gave her a reassuring smile, "It means 'rely,' so you know for sure you can rely on me. I'll get you feeling better in no time, don't worry."

I sincerely hoped I'd get the chance to follow through on that. Unfortunately, things were not looking good.

Still, it seemed to help. She tilted her head, testing my full name aloud, "Doctor Yori Kaneko." She grinned, holding out her hand, "nice to meet you."

I laughed, grabbing her hand, giving it a slight shake, "how do you do?" Her hands were surprisingly soft.

L stared at me with his unnervingly black eyes. "Well, Yori Kaneko, now that you can see the shinigami king, you just became a part of our operation. Obviously, you're not permitted to tell anyone about this; but you already knew that."

Of course I did. They had made it extremely clear in my contract that I was to tell no one outside of this tower about anything I were to see or hear. If I ever did they would sue me for everything I own and send me to jail. I wasn't keen on having my name in the crime system for obvious reasons; Criminals were dropping like flies. I planned to live a long life.

"Ugh, I feel sick," Ellie was about to vomit.

"A side effect of pregnancy, I'm afraid." I handed her a bucket, "you're not having a very good day today, are you?"

She responded by spewing out her breakfast.

L took a slice of cake and munched on it, looking back toward the monitors. "There's something you should know about me, doctor. It's important if you're going to be of any help."

I raised my eyebrow. He was so mysterious. "And what would that be?"

He went on to tell me some crazy story about anime and notebooks.


	21. New in Town

This chapter was so much fun to write. I love Weston so much. XD

* * *

Weston Clark's P.O.V.

I missed Ellie. Without her I had no one to gossip with about all the cute boys on campus. That pasty piece of eye candy took her away from me and I haven't seen or heard from her since. Eventually I decided I'd take matters into my own hands and text her myself.

" _Hey, wanna skype? I haven't seen that adorable face of yours since you married that pretty little oddball._ "

She texted back almost immediately, " _Absolutely! I was beginning to think everyone had forgotten about me. When are you available?_ "

" _Literally whenever. I have nothing fun to do without my best girlfriend on the scene, campus has been so dull_."

" _How about now? I'm not doing anything. I won't be doing anything for a while actually…_ "

" _Why not? Too sore from the bedroom? ;)_ "

" _Something like that… I'll explain later. I don't think you'd believe me if you couldn't witness it yourself. Just… Don't tell anyone. And don't freak out. I don't want people to worry and make a fuss_."

That didn't sound good. What could possibly have happened? " _Okay. I'm calling you on skype right now_."

My laptop showed a picture of my favorite person's face. She was messing with her bottom lip like usual. "Hey there, love! It's been too long. Having fun without me?"

A young – and very handsome – Japanese man in glasses and a lab coat poked his head in and looked at the screen curiously, "Ellie, who's this?" Oh shit, he had a sexy voice… Seriously, she had all the luck, it was not even fair.

"Weston, meet Doctor Yori Kaneko." Her voice was all raspy and strained. Has she been over-signing again? "He's been taking care of me since…" She paused, "well, since I got hurt. Yori, this is my friend Weston Clark."

I heard a monotone voice from off-camera, "Is that the man who dressed me up as an old lady?" Ah, yes, Ellie's mysterious and elusive husband Lawrence. I wondered if he was still as pale as he was when I met him.

"That's me." I giggled, "You looked great in heels." I turned my attention back to Ellie, "How's it going, honey? Why do you have a hot doctor there; did you fall off a couch and break your wrist again?"

The hot doctor laughed, it was like music to my ears, "Again? As in you've done that before? Are you really that clumsy?" He looked at Ellie.

She glared back at him, "That was one time!"

"Oh that is rich," He couldn't stop laughing. I think I'm in love.

"If you must know," Ellie said, pushing the beautiful man away from the screen, "I was attacked."

Well that's not what I was expecting, "Attacked? Oh my God, really? That's awful!"

"You don't know the half of it," Kaneko commented, suddenly serious.

"What does that mean," I leaned forward. "You better not be keeping secrets."

"I have an idea," She said, dodging the question. Nice try, we haven't heard the last of this.

"What?" I asked.

"Come to Japan and I'll tell you everything in person! I miss you and all your fabulousness." She looked at something off the screen, "Is that okay? – Great!" She looked back at the camera, "We'll get you a first-class ticket to Tokyo, how's that sound?"

I tilted my head in mock thoughtfulness, "Well, let me think about it- YES! Are you kidding, I'd love to! Screw finals, I'll hop on flight and come to Tokyo tonight if you want."

She grinned, "Perfect! We'll arrange everything and I'll send you an email with all the necessary information. Do you have a passport?"

"Yep." I put my hand to the side of my mouth, pretending to whisper, "Does this mean I'll get to ask that babe of a doctor on a date?"

"Excuse me?" I heard him say from off screen.

"Well, he lives in the tower with us, so yes, I guess you'll have the opportunity."

"Ellie, stop talking right now," He demanded.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Piss off," he grumbled.

"Bite me," she teased, a sparkle in her eye.

"Oh, you live in a tower," I mused, "How fancy. You're like a real-life princess."

"You're more of a princess than I am," She reached up and made a heart with her fingers. Her hands were all bandaged up.

"And don't you forget it!" I pretended not to notice, mirroring her hands in a heart of my own. "Doctor Kaneko can be my knight in shining armor." I winked.

"You hear that Yori? You've got an admirer."

"Shut up." He sounded grumpy.

"Is that any way to talk to your boss?" She waved her finger playfully.

He ignored her, "Well, anyway Mr. Click, or whatever your name was," His face appeared in front of the camera again, "This 'real-life princess' has bandages that need to be replaced. Goodbye." Without letting me say anything else he disconnected our session and my screen went dark.

"Hot damn," I said to myself, leaning back in my chair.

* * *

I'd never been in first class before. It was luxurious. I was almost sad when we landed.

Walking out of the airport I found an old man with a mustache holding a brightly-colored sign saying "Weston The Fabulous, from Ellie." I laughed out loud. She knew me too well.

I was driven in the back of a limousine to a tall building with darkly-tinted windows. I knew Lawrence was rich, but I didn't know he was _this_ rich. I'm starting to understand Ellie's decision to drop out of college and marry him a little bit more.

We had to go through security even worse than the airport to get into the building. It took forever just to get my bags through. How could Ellie have gotten attacked if security was this tight?

"She's on the fifteenth floor," the old man said, leading us to an elevator.

"Oh, I probably should have said, but-"

"Third door on the left." He didn't go into the elevator with me. Instead, he pressed a button and walked out, leaving me alone in the cold metal box.

I backed up against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut. I hated small spaces, they made me feel like I was being buried alive. I didn't realize I had been holding my breath until I heard a beep and the doors opened. I couldn't have gotten out fast enough.

I took a few breaths to regain my composure. I couldn't meet my true love looking like a panicked puppy. Reaching into my bag I produced a mirror, checking my makeup. I looked great, as always.

What had the old man said? Third door on the left. It was slightly ajar. I could hear voices.

"Mrs. Lawliet, hold still, for Pete's sake. I can't take a proper ultrasound with you wiggling about like a damn worm."

Mrs. Lawliet? Who was that? I decided to listen in.

"Sorry," that was Ellie's voice, "It's just so cold." Why would someone call her Mrs. Lawliet? That was not the name she told me. She had some explaining to do.

"Too bad. Do you want to see your kid or not?"

I gasped, covering my mouth. Ellie was pregnant?

"If you don't get serious about this, I'll kick you." Lawrence said, sounding like his mouth was full.

"I dare you," Ellie challenged.

"Humph."

I adjusted my hair a bit and knocked. They stopped talking. I heard footsteps, then the door opened, revealing an annoyed-looking doctor.

"Hello," I said, flashing him my most charming smile, "you must be Doctor Kaneko." I looked him up and down and whistled, "You're even cuter in person."

"Oh, it's you," he grimaced, but stepped aside to allow me entry.

I looked around the white room. Lawrence was sitting with his knees up to his chest munching on a slice of cake. He was staring intently at a set of screens. I saw that Doctor Kaneko was tall and fit. I bet he was good with his hands.

My face fell when I caught sight of Ellie. She looked horrible. "Oh, sweet Jesus, what happened to you?" I rushed over to her side, taking her face in my hands to look her over.

She told me about fire pokers and some bastard named Mikami. I still had a feeling she was hiding some key element in the story, like why she had been interrogated in the first place, but I elected to ignore it for now.

"I lived, but only barely."

"it gets worse," the doctor said, inspecting an ultrasound.

I frowned, "How?"

He looked at Ellie, silently asking for permission to tell me. When she nodded he said, "She's pregnant, but with the state her body is in, she can't safely have the baby. Despite this, she's decided to keep it. There's a good chance that she won't survive."

"That's part of the reason I wanted you to come here," she explained, "I might not get another chance to see you. Plus, I wanted at least someone from back home to know what was going on."

This was not the joyful reunion I had pictured. "Why don't you call your family?" I asked.

"No, they'd only worry."

"Damn right they will! And I'd say they'd have good reason."

"Weston, please, you have always been so good at keeping secrets, don't stop now."

"Fine, but now that I know, there's no way I'm leaving." I placed my hands on my hips in defiance. Kaneko audibly groaned.

She shot him a glare, "Yori, play nice. That's an order."

"Whatever you say your highness," he rolled those gorgeous eyes of his. I noticed his gaze linger on her for a little too long before he turned back to his work. Now that's interesting…

"Good," Ellie smiled, "now all that nasty business is over, how about a serenade?"

I laughed, "You're not still trying to get me to sing for you?"

"Yes. You're in theatre, but I've never heard you sing. It's a shame."

"Because I'm not a musical actor. That's your thing, babe."

She pouted, playing with her lip, "Please? It'd make me feel better." She put her hand on her forehead dramatically, "else I may faint."

"You better not," Kaneko warned.

"Hush," she waved him off. He almost laughed, but stopped himself, clearing his throat instead.

"Honey, it's not gonna happen. Stop asking."

She frowned, "Please? I've had a distinct lack of show tunes lately. I can't sing myself and it makes me want to cry. I think I'm going through withdrawals."

I had an idea, "leave that to me, I know just what to do!"

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Doctor Kaneko, sweetie, could I borrow your cute butt for a second?"

"Over my dead body," he grumbled.

"Great! Let's go," I grabbed him by the lab coat and dragged him out into the hallway. It was not without difficulty; He was strong. I liked that in a man.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!" He yanked out of my grip.

I pressed my finger to my lip, "Shhhh, we're gonna surprise Ellie," he tried leaning away as I whispered in his ear, but I had him backed into a corner. I would not let him escape.

"Not a good idea. She's not-" I clamped my hand over his mouth.

"We can't talk here. Ow!" I felt a sharp pain on my thumb, "You bit me…" I looked at my hand. There was a red mark.

"Don't touch me," He warned. Okay, maybe he wasn't my true love after all; he was mean. Too bad… his looks were wasted on him. "She's too fragile right now for any surprises. If anything sudden or overly-loud happens, her body could go into shock."

I pursed my lips, "It's not a startling surprise. It's a fun surprise." A slow, mischievous grin spread across my face, "Don't you want to see her gorgeous smile? Imagine how great it'd be if you were the one to cause it," I offered him a glamorous wink.

He paused, his glare breaking for a fraction of a second until he plastered it right back across his features. He roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me into another room. It looked just like the one Ellie was in, only void of any patients. "Look," he said, "if it'll get you to shut up, fine, I'll hear you out." he sighed, releasing my arm, "What did you have in mind?"


	22. Denial

This is kind of a filler / character-development chapter. We'll get back to the main story soon.

Review and tell me what you think.

* * *

Yori Kaneko's P.O.V.

"Is she asleep?" Weston whispered. I hated him. Everything about him just rubbed me the wrong way. But he did have a good idea to cheer Ellie up. Lately she's seemed less and less happy. She puts on a good show of staying cheery, but I can tell she's scared and depressed. So, for her sake, I put up with him and helped him with his scheme.

"Yeah. But be quiet. Avoid talking, if you're physically capable of doing so." I held open the door as he wheeled in a cart loaded with tech.

He tried miming something to me, but I ignored him, picking up each speaker and installing them around the room as quietly as possible. He dropped his hands, looking disappointed at the lack of attention. Eventually he got over it and followed my lead, placing the speakers all around the room. L raised an eyebrow at us, but ignored us mostly. He was always staring at his stupid monitors whenever he wasn't talking to Ellie.

When we finished setting everything up we left the room to let her sleep. Weston, to my annoyance, started talking again, "So, you sure you won't take me up on that date? We could go see a romantic movie, or you could give me a tour around the city."

God, he made my blood boil. "Like I've said a thousand times before, not in a million years. Don't ask again."

"Why not? You might enjoy it." I didn't bother responding. I went into my room and locked the door. Unfortunately, wood was not sound proof, "Come on, beautiful, it'll be fun."

"Go away, damn it! The answer is no."

"Why?"

I grit my teeth, "Let's just say, you're not my type."

"You never know," he teased.

"Yes I do. Now get out of here before I stab you with a scalpel." I was only partially exaggerating.

He laughed, "Alright, honey, I'll leave… For now." As he walked away I heard him call out, "You'll come 'round eventually!"

I took a deep, calming breath, pushing my glasses back into place. Why did Ellie have to invite that asshole here? I had nothing against the lgbt+ community, but I did not appreciate the constant harassment coming from this guy. I might tear my hair out if he stays here any longer.

I'd leave if it weren't for Ellie. She needs me.

When I was sure that Weston was gone, I shrugged off my lab coat and headed up to the top floor to talk to Watari. He, at least, was intelligent company.

The Lawliets had had me watch an entire anime, just so I'd know what they were dealing with. I now knew L's story, as well as Kira, Matt, Mello, even Teru Mikami. When he came on the screen I wanted to pull him out of the TV and stab _him_ with a hot poker. It's no less than what he deserved.

I found Watari in the top floor kitchen. "Ah, hello Doctor Kaneko," he greeted, "I trust Ellie is doing well?"

"Better than expected, yes. Although I wouldn't exactly say she's doing 'well.' Her condition is still less than ideal."

"I see. That's a shame." He turned back around, mixing something in a bowl.

"Any developments on finding a way to take down Kira?" I asked, grabbing a strawberry out of a colander and popping it into my mouth.

"Not as yet, although that would be a question for L."

"Yeah, I guess. He's not exactly the talkative sort though, so it's hard to get anything out of him."

"That's his nature."

I nodded, "I've noticed." My pager beeped, signaling that Ellie was waking up. "Gotta go, duty calls."

I went to my room to grab my lab coat before going to check on my patient. When I got there, Weston was already waiting outside the door.

"Ready?" He whispered excitedly.

"It's not like I'll be doing anything, you're the one who picked the soundtrack, I just helped get things set up. That's the end of my involvement."

"You're such a party pooper. You won't put on a performance for her with me?"

"Absolutely not. Now move, I need to check on my patient."

He mumbled under his breath, "are you sure you don't mean check her _out_?"

I turned, glaring at him, "What did you say?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that you seem to give her an awful lot of attention."

"I'm her doctor, that's my job. Not that I'd expect you to understand a concept as complicated as responsibility."

"Really? Because I can't help but feel a little jealous of all those lingering stares you give her."

"I'd like to see things from your point of view but I can't seem to get my head that far up my ass." I pushed passed him and walked into the medical room.

Ellie was stretching her arms above her head with a yawn, "Oh, hi Yori. Weston. How long was I asleep?" Her voice sounded a lot better today. It wasn't raspy anymore. In fact, it was almost velvety. I made a note of her improvement on my clipboard.

L answered for us, "nine hours and fourth-three minutes." He was eating cheese cake. I really needed to check him for diabetes. He never stopped eating sugar. I didn't understand how he wasn't morbidly obese.

"You sound better. How does your voice feel?" I asked, taking a popsicle stick and checking the back of her throat. All good.

"I feel like I might be able to sing again!" She looked so happy, I couldn't help but smile. It disappeared when I saw Weston smirking at me. He sure knew how to ruin my day.

"Is that so?" L stood up from his chair and leaned closer to her, "Let's hear it."

She scratched her head, "I can't just give a performance out of the blue. I haven't practiced in so long," She laughed, "I don't know if I can even stay on key." I was right, her laugh was a lot nicer when it wasn't rough and gritty. This was a good sign. It meant she was healing.

"That's okay," Weston said, "because Glasses and I came up with a little surprise for you."

She tilted her head, "You did?"

He pointed to me, striking an over-the-top pose, "Hit it, babe!"

"Don't call me babe," I pressed a button, turning on the speakers. Weston had plugged in his phone and set it to a musical called Wicked. It was some kind of Wizard of Oz spoof, I think.

I underestimated the volume. As soon as the music started Ellie jumped and covered her ears. I rushed to lower the volume to something that wouldn't make us all go deaf and almost dropped the remote in the process. When she could remove her hands, she listened and her face lit up. I guess she recognized this musical.

"You said you were lacking show tunes, so we set up a surround sound system for you while you were asleep."

She gave the most genuine smile she'd given in a while, "You guys… You're the best. You were in on this, Yori?"

I felt oddly proud, "Yep. I even put up with this loser and his antics to do it." I nodded toward Weston. He ignored my insult.

"I'd get up to hug you two, but you won't let me."

"You're damn right I won't." I crossed my arms, "You're not strong enough for that."

"Then get over here and hug me yourself!" Weston didn't hesitate, jumping onto her bed and wrapping his arms around her. I opted out, despite the temptation.

"L," She said, turning to her husband, "looks like I _can_ be touched without shattering. So get over here and kiss me for heaven's sake."

He looked at me, "Would she be alright?"

I shrugged, "Should be fine. Just don't touch her bruises and be gentle."

That was enough for him. Clearly, he'd been just as starved for her as she had been for him. Weston fangirled as he watched them, but I looked away, holding back a stab of jealousy by busying myself with my instruments.

I needed to change her bandages, but they didn't look likely to stop anytime soon, so I started walking out. Weston did not look like he would leave willingly. "Oi! You," I pointed to him, "Get over here."

"Oh? Something you have in mind," he asked flirtatiously.

"Shut your mouth and get out," I adjusted my glasses.

"Forceful, aren't we?"

I glared at him.

"Alright, alright, cool off, I'm coming."

I watched him leave toward the staircase. Why didn't he ever take the elevator, I wonder?

When he was gone I snuck a glance back at the Lawliets. They seemed so happy together. I closed the door behind me, walking down the hall to my room. When I was finally alone I leaned against the door, sliding down to the ground, covering my face with my hands.

I think Weston was starting to get to me. I couldn't let him. I needed to just block him out and take everything he says with a grain of salt. He was actively trying to mess with me. All I needed to do was block him out and ignore his horrendous smirks and accusations.

The worst part was that he wasn't wrong.


	23. Nate River

Poor Yori…

Anyway, back to the main plot.

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

I couldn't stop myself. I'd tried so hard, but in the end, it was too much. She was too tempting. Eventually, I had to give in. Her doctor had given the go-ahead at least, just so long as I was careful.

Ellie's annoying friend only left after Kaneko ordered him to. I'd have to give him a strawberry later. Fortunately, though, they wouldn't be back for a while.

I was gentle, afraid that she might get hurt, but she seemed to be doing fine for the most part. She'd flinch now and again, but she wouldn't let me let go until she was fully satisfied. When things eventually cooled down, she nestled against my chest, letting me hold her. I needed to get up. We had work to do, but I couldn't bring myself to move. She looked so content.

Three hours and twenty-six minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Without moving, Ellie called out, "Come in."

"Are you decent, or should I come back later?" It was Kaneko, "I don't see a sock on the door."

That made Ellie laugh, "Shut it and get in here!"

He opened the door and peeked in, "But Ellie, if I shut the door, how am I supposed to get inside?"

She rolled her eyes, grinning. His sarcastic comments always made her laugh. She had told me once that she wanted our child to call him 'Uncle Yori,' which made no sense to me. He wasn't related to either of us.

"You're certainly in a good mood," He adjusted his glasses, "L must have done a good job."

She changed the subject, "Is there a reason you came in here, or are you just poking fun."

"I obviously wasn't the one poking fun; I'll leave that to your husband. But yes, actually, we need to change your bandages. We were supposed to earlier, but the both of you clearly had something else in mind," He looked at me pointedly.

We knew the drill. I helped her carefully remove her shirt so Kaneko could do his work.

"Well well well, looks like you're starting to show."

My eyes shot down to her belly. He was right. It was more swollen than before. I poked her bellybutton and she playfully swatted my hand away.

"Have you picked a name," Kaneko asked.

"You know," Ellie said, "I haven't really thought about it."

I had. I knew exactly what name to choose, the moment we found out we were having a son. It was a good name. Before I could speak, however, the door slammed open and Weston burst inside, striking some ridiculous pose. He was like Matsuda, but worse; always being stupid.

"Hello lovelies! I'm back." He looked at the doctor, "Did you know there's a pool on the second floor? This place is like a palace."

Kaneko's mood suddenly turned sour, "I've been in this building two months longer than you have. There's nothing you can tell me that I don't already know," he snapped at him. He wasn't even trying to pretend to tolerate Weston at this point.

"Oh?" Ellie's flamboyant friend teased, "So, does that mean you finally admit it to yourself?"

What did he mean by that? I shared a look with Ellie, she'd noticed it too.

"Admit what," she asked. They'd better not be keeping secrets.

Kaneko ignored the question, "You know," he said, pretending to look at Ellie, but still talking to Weston, "Even people who are good for nothing can bring a smile to my face. Especially when pushed down fifteen flights of stairs." He finished putting on her new bandages and stood up to give Weston a glare that could curdle milk, "Any volunteers?"

This chatter was pointless. "Nate River," I interrupted quietly, chewing on my thumb nail.

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at me. "What was that," Kaneko asked, confused.

"That will be our son's name. Nate River Lawliet."

The room became reverent. The only one who didn't know the significance of this name was Weston. But Ellie and Kaneko knew my background. They knew that Near and I were as close as two people like us could have been. He was a worthy successor.

I looked at Weston, "You are being disruptive. Please leave and don't come back until tomorrow. The three of us have work to do."

He looked hurt, but turned around to leave regardless. As soon as he was gone, Yori visibly relaxed.

"That was harsh," Ellie scolded, "I know neither of you like him, but he's my best friend. At least try to be a little bit nicer to him."

"We need to focus on catching Kira. He's no more than a nuisance," I picked up a gummy bear and tossed it into his mouth.

"For you maybe," her mood was steadily decreasing, "But for me he's keeping me from breaking down. You can't possibly understand how much I need him right now."

Kaneko looked at the ground, frowning. I didn't react. Instead I turned on my microphone, "Yagami, please come into the medical room."

Soichiro's voice sounded on Ellie's new speaker system, "What is it?"

"I have a very important task for you."

"On my way." Mr. Yagami appeared at our door in less than five minutes. "What do you need me to do?"

I picked up Ellie's – impressively accurate – sketch of the shinigami King and held it up for him to look at, "You're going to talk to this thing."

Kaneko tore it from my grip to look at it. "Seriously? You want him to confront this nightmare head on? He'll be killed."

"Not if I wear a mask," Yagami said.

Ellie spoke up, "But he never leaves Kira's side. Light is certain to recognize his own father's voice, then Soichiro's a goner."

"Then we give him a mask with a voice changer," I suggested, "for all Light knows, his father is dead. He'll assume since you can see and hear the shinigami king that you were the one who took the notebook with the drone. And that's only if he noticed us stealing it at all. If he had seen us when we took it in the first place, he would have had several shinigami chase the drone to find out where it was headed. We were not followed. There are two possibilities as to why that is: Either the shinigami king is unable to leave Kira's side, or he didn't care that we took the notebook. In either case, we can assume Kira didn't know about the event until it was too late for him to do anything about it."

"I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be free to move about if he wanted to," Kaneko theorized, "Light isn't a human anymore, so the same rules don't apply. I'm thinking the shinigami king simply didn't care that his death note was stolen. That's why he didn't follow Ellie's drone."

"If that's true," Yagami said, "then he must be the one who makes the notebooks."

"That's correct," I confirmed, "and that is why Mr. Yagami is going to confront him."

"What's he supposed to do?" Ellie asked, "It's not like we can force him to stop making death notes."

"No," Soichiro said, "but I can ask him why he's assisting Kira. It may help us find a way to stop him."

I warned, "Remember to be careful not to mention anything that might suggest any of us have come to this world. Don't even talk about Teru Mikami. If it has anything to do with us, assume it's not safe to say. You are there to gain information, not give it. I will be communicating with you the whole time. When we have gotten everything out of him that we can, you will go to a hotel on the other side of the city until we're certain you're no longer being followed or watched."

"L," Ellie said out of nowhere.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Kaneko tensed slightly; It was almost too subtle to notice.

I raised my eyebrow at her odd timing, but shyly muttered back, "I love you too."

I cleared my throat before continuing, looking at Soichiro, "You will circle the city and approach the building from a different angle, just in case. We don't want to leave any kind of trail that may lead back here." I ate another gummy bear.

"I understand. I won't leave any sign that would lead to the tower."

"Mr. Yagami," Doctor Kaneko said, "don't forget that your son will be there. More than likely he'll try talking to you too."

"Yes," I said, "but you must pretend you can't see or hear him. Can you do that?"

"That monster is not my son," He growled. "I'll do whatever I have to do."

"Good," I said, "In that case, I'll give you a call when we've made all the necessary preparations."

He left without another word.

Ellie started humming, gently rubbing her hand over her stomach with a small smile on her face. She looked up, "Yori, can my baby hear me?"

He nodded, watching her intently.

She began to sing. This was the first time I'd gotten to hear it since her kidnapping. The song was soft and gentle. She was giving our son a lullaby.

Kaneko seemed entranced. I couldn't blame him; I was too. The whole world seemed to reflect whatever she sang. In this case, it was peace and quiet.

When her song ended, Kaneko whispered in awe, "That was incredible Ellie… I didn't know you could sing like that."

"Was that a compliment I just heard?" She jested, "I was expecting some joke about a sour note or something." Ellie offered him an amused smile.

He frowned, "am I really that bad?"

"Yes," I said, peeling a banana. It wasn't a lie.

"Sorry," He said, uncharacteristically softly. "Excuse me," He adjusted his glasses and walked out the door without another word.

Ellie didn't seem to notice is odd behavior. She looked at me, "So, Nate River Lawliet, huh?"

I nodded, not having much else to say on the subject.

She smiled, "I like it."


	24. If Kira is God, then I am Lucifer

Just in case 'yall didn't know, the Florence Nightingale effect (also known as Florence Nightingale Syndrome) is when a doctor or nurse falls for their patient. That's what Weston refers to here.

We get some answers about Mikami in this chapter. Buckle up, fair readers.

And PLEASE review, it keeps me motivated to continue the story.

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

"Please? Even just across the room?"

"No. Stop asking."

"L, Yori is being a jerk."

"And I will continue being a jerk until you're better, so stop whining like a little kid."

L dropped a strawberry into his mouth, "Why don't you just get a wheelchair?"

"That's a great idea! Yori, think you can swing that?"

He moved his stethoscope to another spot, "I guess, but you'd need to be pushed around, or at least escorted by someone at all times. Besides, it's not like there's anything interesting in the tower to see. And with Kira on the loose, it's not a smart idea to go outside, especially since your name and life span aren't visible. You'd look too suspicious; you could get attacked again. We don't know how many people Kira has out there."

I'll be the judge of that. I glared at him, "Get me a freaking wheelchair, I'm sick of this room. If I die having this baby, I will not have spent my last few months staring at these walls."

"Whatever you say your highness." He took off his stethoscope and wrote something on his clipboard. "Everything looks good. Except, you know, the things that don't."

"Well, look at you being all specific," Weston appeared, strutting through the door. "Hiya handsome," He brushed his hand flirtatiously across Kaneko's cheek. Kaneko smacked his hand away.

"If you're here," Yori quipped, "who's running Hell?"

"My, my, our little Florence Nightingale is feeling feisty today."

"Don't insult me. Florence Nightingale was a nurse; I'm a doctor."

He winked, "That's not quite what I was referring to." They looked like they were having a secret conversation, speaking in some sort of code.

Whatever Weston had meant seemed to tick Yori off to the point he looked almost humiliated. He stormed out of the room without another word, slamming the door behind him. I hated that my two closest friends fought so often. It made me sad.

"What was that all about," I asked, probing for answers.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that cute ass of his; it's a little too tight for his own good. He can't take a joke."

"I don't know," I said, "He's taken plenty of jokes coming from me. You seem to have genuinely upset him. What did you do?"

"Now this is a twist, the patient is worried about the well-being of her doctor," he dodged the question.

"Weston," I warned.

"Yeah, sweetie? What is it?" He feigned innocence.

"Be nice to him." I ordered, using my no-nonsense voice. "You're acting like a bully."

He gasped dramatically, pressing his hand to his chest, "Me? Never!"

I love Weston, but he could be incredibly frustrating at times.

* * *

A few hours later, Yori came in with a shiny new wheelchair for me. I had spent that time convincing L to let me go outside.

"We still haven't gone to visit Mikami in his cell," I said, "we need to know how he got here, when he arrived, and where he popped up. We also don't know how much he knows about Kira's current situation. I think it would be beneficial to go see him."

L took another bit of cake, "I suppose you're right. Although you coming along can't be too helpful."

"Yes it can," I said, grabbing a handful of gummy bears from L's vast pile of goodies, "I'm the one he attacked after all. He wants to know why he can't see my name or lifespan. We say that we'll tell him what we know if he tells us what he knows."

He finished his slice of cake and grabbed another one, "That sounds like a deception; we don't know why your name and lifespan aren't visible. I think I may be a bad influence on you," He took a huge bite, "fine, you can go, but Yagami and Kaneko are going with you. I will be staying here, ready to intervene with the police at my back if anything goes south."

"Where are we going?" Yori rolled my newly-acquired chair through the door.

"You and Yagami will be accompanying Ellie to Tokyo Prison to interrogate Teru Mikami."

"Yeah, because that's not a recipe for disaster," he said.

"While you are out, you are to refer to her only as Gabrielle, is that clear?"

"Clear as mud." He adjusted his glasses, "Do I get an alias too? "I want something discreet like Balfadon The Destroyer."

I was not expecting to laugh, so I ended up choking on my gummy bears. Yori almost had to give me the Heimlich. Luckily, I managed to survive… For now.

His sarcasm might _actually_ kill me. Maybe I'll be Balfadon The Destroyer's first victim.

"God, Ellie, chew your food," Yori got me a glass of water.

L chimed in, "Yes, being strangled to death by bears does not sound like a pleasant way to end one's life." He took another bit of cake.

"Ah, but what a grand tale it would be," I said, grabbing the cup and guzzling it down. When I'd recovered, I tried to climb into my chair. My muscles were still bruised and weak, but I was determined.

"Whoa, hold on," Yori rushed forward, gabbing my shoulders, "You can't get in and out of bed on your own."

I tried to push him away, but he was too sturdy, "I'm fine," I insisted. I didn't want to have to rely on other people for everything. I wasn't completely helpless. L watched our exchange with minimal interest.

"No, you're not, stop being stubborn and listen to your damn doctor."

I pouted, but gave up and let him lift me into the chair bridal style. I tried pushing myself by the wheels, but my arms were still too sore, so I reluctantly let my doctor take control.

"Where to, your highness?"

"Top floor. I need to have a bath and get something decent on before heading out."

I had L help me get cleaned up while Yori disappeared to do whatever it is he does in his spare time. I put on a comfortable pink dress and put my hair up. I didn't bother with shoes. L slouched like normal as he pushed my wheelchair around wherever I asked.

I hadn't been this clean and tidy in months. It felt good. I sat up a bit straighter. Looking in the mirror, I looked like a fine, well-to-do lady. I offered myself a little wink. I'm gorgeous and I know it.

L noticed, muttering, "Pink is a becoming color on you." I may or may not have blushed a little bit. Or a lot. Either way, I was flattered. L was more of a sweetheart than he got credit for.

We went to the first floor to meet Yagami and Kaneko. They were waiting for us outside the elevator. For once, Yori wasn't in his lab coat. Yagami, however, looked the same as ever.

Yori stared at me, looking dazed. Did I have something on my face?

"Are you alright, Doctor?" L mumbled, chewing on his thumb, "your face is going red."

He was right. Yori looked like he was getting a fever or something. He pretended to cough and turned away, adjusting his glasses, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get on with it, shall we? I haven't seen the sun in forever." He started toward the door.

"Hold it, Kaneko, aren't you forgetting something?" L held out three identical masks, "Let's value our lives."

We put on our masks and I gave L a kiss goodbye. It occurred to me that this would be the first time since my kidnapping that we would be apart. Maybe I'd get some good gossip time in with Yori. From the hints Weston has been dropping I knew he had some cute girl on his mind; I was hoping to ask him about it. I bet I could convince L to let him out of the tower for a day so he could take her on a date.

"You look nice today," Yagami commented politely.

"Thanks, I haven't worn decent clothes in far too long. It's a nice change," I smiled as Yori helped me into the car. Once we were protected by the tinted windows we took off our masks. We wouldn't need them until we went outside.

Watari would be waiting outside the prison for us in the limousine. Once we were finished talking to Mikami, we'd go straight back to the tower. I briefly wondered how I could draw it out. I needed fresh air.

As fate would have it, while we were driving, we got stuck in traffic. Normally I'd have been annoyed, but this was the perfect opportunity to bug my second-best friend.

"Hey, Yori," I whispered quietly in his ear when I was sure Mr. Yagami wasn't paying attention, "word on the street is you've been pining for some girl. What's her name?"

He looked stunned, "Where did you hear that?"

"Oh… Around. So, who is she? A nurse at the hospital you used to work at, maybe?"

"I shouldn't discuss these things with a patient."

I rolled my eyes, "Since when do you care about etiquette? Spill it, what's she like?"

He was visibly uncomfortable. "Um…"

"Would you rather I hear about it from Weston? Because he _will_ find out and he _will_ tell me. Whether or not he tells me the truth is another matter. Best save yourself the grief of his crazy stories and tell me yourself." Normally I wasn't this pushy but I had been starved for girl-talk.

He sighed, shifting in his seat, "Fine. But I refuse to tell you her name, or how I know her," took his glasses off and polished them on his shirt, "what can I say to get you to shut up about this?"

Yes, victory! "Well, start with a description. What's she like?"

He looked at the floor of the limousine sheepishly, "She's… beautiful. The most stunning eyes you'll ever see. And spunky. She makes me laugh. I can be myself around her."

"She sounds wonderful," I grinned, "have you asked her out?"

"Excuse me?"

"Have you taken her on a date?"

"Let me get you a ladder so you can climb out of my business."

I smacked his arm, "Oh shut it, you're not getting out of it that easily. I haven't had a personal conversation with anyone other than my husband since I got to Japan. So," I rested my chin in one of my hands, "tell me more about her. Where did you two meet?"

"I already said I won't tell you how I know her. Why do you have to be so damn nosy?" He crossed his arms defensively.

"Fine. Does she love you back?"

His face fell, "No. She doesn't."

I frowned, "Why not? You're a catch." Weston had pointed that out far too many times.

He put his glasses back on, "Because. She just doesn't."

"You're not very good at this whole two-way conversation thing."

"This feels pretty one-sided to me. I don't have anything on you that would bug you this much. It's completely unfair."

Oh, so he wants to play give and take. Fine, I can play along. "Alright, in that case, you tell me about this mystery girl, and I'll answer any question you ask me. Deal? One for one." I held out my hand for him to shake.

He looked at my hand as if it may bite him. "One for one?"

I nodded, "Yep. So, do we have a deal or not?"

Hesitantly, he took my hand and shook it, being careful not to touch the bandages, "Okay, but if I choose to opt out of a question you can't push me on it."

That sounded fair, so I agreed.

"You first," he said, "tell me, what's with the funny dress?"

Now he was just making fun of me. "I thought it looked good," I straitened the hem self-consciously.

He laughed, "Oh, my apologies, your highness. You do look nice though. You should put on real clothes more often instead of those baggy t-shirts and pajama pants you always wear," he teased.

I ignored his jab. I wore those baggy t-shirts so he could change my bandages easier, he should appreciate it. "Your turn," I said, "How do you know this girl doesn't love you back? Have you actually asked her?"

"Don't need to. I'm certain of it."

"That's not an answer."

"And your point is?"

We went on like that the rest of the drive. He was not very forthcoming. I'd ask him a question, he'd dodge it, then he'd ask me something ridiculous. I was beyond frustrated by the time we got to the prison.

"We're here. Everyone, put your masks on," Yagami ordered.

We got out of the car – not without difficulty – and Yagami led the way. A guard escorted us to Mikami's cell and left us to talk to him. He was being held in a solitary cell away from the other prisoners. L had gone out of his way to make him as miserable as possible.

Mikami had drawn a giant cross on one of the walls and was on his knees, praying to it. Soichiro cleared his throat, getting the prisoner's attention. Mikami stopped muttering and glanced over to us.

"Who are you?" He asked.

I checked for cameras. There were three, all of which were behind us, facing our backs, so only the people present would be able to see me. I took off my mask, revealing my face to the maniac in front of me. "Hello, Teru Mikami," I glowered.

He glared menacingly, "You."

I leaned forward, "So you do recognize me. Good."

"What are you? Why can't I see your name?"

"We'll be the one asking questions," Yagami warned. "And you will answer them, or else."

Mikami walked forward, grabbing the bars. "It appears I am at a disadvantage."

"Yes," I said, "You are." I sat back in my chair, "So, tell us, how did you get to this world?"

He tilted his head toward the ceiling, "It was an act of God."

"Describe it," I demanded.

"I died," His grip tightened on the bars, "I died for God. And he rewarded me by giving me new life. I was guided by one of his angels of death to this place. He tasked me with assisting him in the creation of the new world."

"You spoke to Kira?" Yagami asked.

He didn't answer.

"You're pathetic," Yori growled, "How could you torture her like you did? What could you possibly have to gain?" The amount of hate and anger dripping from his tone was frightening. He looked ready to punch Mikami out.

"Settle down," Yagami said, "We're not here for that."

"How about a trade," I suggested, "You tell us what you know, and in return we'll tell you what we know."

He narrowed his eyes, but eventually nodded, "Fine. We have an agreement." He stuck his arm between the bars to shake my hand.

I ignored his outstretched hand. I had no intention of telling him anything. Once we got what we wanted, we'd leave him here to rot. I felt no pity for this man after what he did to me.

Yori decided to take his hand though… and use it to dislocate his arm. Mikami yelped in pain, leaping back from the bars. "God will delete you," he snarled.

"Start talking," I commanded, "how long have you been in this world?"

He nursed his limp arm, "I came here about a year before I saw you and your perversion. I have the eyes, but cannot see your name or life span. Why? Are you not human?"

Of course I was human, but I didn't need to tell him that. "No. I'm not," I lied more smoothly than I thought I could. I didn't like lies, so why did they come so easily? Maybe I was turning into L. (It was kind of fun, not gonna lie.)

That got a reaction. "Then what are you!?" he shouted desperately.

"If Kira is God," I smiled menacingly, "then I am Lucifer."

His eyes widened in horror.

"So," I continued, "tell us what we want to know, or we'll drag you down to the seventh circle of hell right now. After all," I showed the bandages on my arm and hand, "You've earned it."

That frightened him even more than I thought it would. This plan was going perfectly. "Please, no… I'll tell you whatever you want, just don't take me!"

I smirked, "Good. You'd better. You don't want to know what will happen if I am not satisfied with your answers." I played with my bottom lip, pretending to think, "So, where to begin?"

Mr. Yagami spoke up, "what do you know about the Kira in this world?"

Mikami cowered in the corner, but answered nonetheless, "Light Yagami brought me here. He said he wanted my eyes. He told me I would be his prophet and his hand. When I was stolen from his sight and thrown in here, he ceased blessing me with his guidance."

"Did you tell him about me?" I asked calmly.

He hesitated, but nodded fearfully, "Yes. He said you are not the only one of your kind. There was a man and an old woman who also had no names or life spans. The man stole his notebook; he had to get a new one. God has been searching for this man ever since so that he can be deleted."

I fought to keep a straight face, and fortunately didn't break. It was hard not to laugh. Kira still thought my red-head disguise was a real person. "When was the last time you spoke to him?"

He looked broken, "When I was captured, he appeared to me one last time, saying I had failed and he wouldn't need me anymore. But, he offered me redemption… if-" He cut himself off.

"If what?" Yori asked.

He hid behind his hair, but I could see a slow grin spread across his face, "If I got out of here and killed you once and for all."

Yori grabbed the bars, looking ready to tear them out of the wall and pound Mikami to a pulp, "If you even touch her again I will hunt you down and kill you myself!"

Mikami shied away, but was still smiling his creepy-murderer grin.

I raised my chin, "Where were you when you first arrived here?" We already knew he hadn't come from my closet.

He spat at my feet.

I heard L's vocal scrambler in my ear, "I believe that is all the information we will be able to extract from him. Please return to the tower at once."

I put my mask back on and let Yori push my wheelchair toward the exit, Yagami following closely behind. At some point Mikami had started cackling maniacally. We ignored him, leaving the prison and climbing into the limo out front. Watari drove us back to the tower while I kept an eye out for shinigami.

We weren't followed.


	25. Anon Terces

This story is taking over my life! I haven't had more than a single meal a day since I started writing this and I've skipped classes more often than I care to admit. (No regrets... Except for the ones I have, but we don't talk about those.)

 **Dear Melissa** : Your review made me super happy. I'm glad you're enjoying my story. If the day ever comes for you to go on strike, I wish you luck on finding a good cause.

 **Everyone else:** Follow our marvelous Melissa's example and _review_. (More reviews means more motivation. More motivation means better writing. Better writing means happy readers. Be happy, my beloved readers.)

I hid a _secret riddle_ in this chapter. If you can find and solve it, I'll give you a shout-out and write a special one-shot at your request. Prize goes to the first person – if any – that figures it out. Good luck.

* * *

Soichiro Yagami's P.O.V.

Ellie handled the interrogation with impressive grace. She doesn't call herself an actress for nothing. It was unnerving how easily she could lie. She was normally such an honest and upfront person. It briefly made me wonder what else she could be lying about.

I suppose I may never know. She's a Lawliet, after all.

L was waiting for us when we got back to the tower. He was eating out of a large tub of ice cream. Ellie took the spoon he offered her and happily joined in, munching on the sugary treat as we discussed our next task.

"That was extremely useful. Well done, Ellie," He congratulated her with an oddly-affectionate smile.

She looked at Doctor Kaneko and I, "I'm not the only one who deserves recognition. They helped too," she mentioned.

"Yes, I suppose they did." He looked at us with his cold, black eyes, "Thank you for your assistance. It was greatly appreciated. We now have a great deal of important information to use when speaking with the shinigami king." He looked back to Ellie and took another bite of ice cream, "It was a clever, albeit risky decision to remove your mask and reveal your face to Mikami. It seems our training sessions are paying off."

"I don't see how," she complained, "You still win every time."

"Yes, but it's become increasingly difficult to best you. I'm sure you've noticed it takes a lot longer for us to finish a game than when we started."

I gawked. Was L saying she was a challenge for him? She was even more impressive than I thought.

Kaneko adjusted his glasses, "Mikami says he was guided here by one of god's angels of death. He must mean a shinigami."

"Yes, I came to the same conclusion," the Lawliet's said in unison. They paused to give each other a curious look, then continued eating their ice cream. Maybe they belong together after all.

"If Mikami remembers how he got here," I said, stating the obvious, "then why don't we? All I remember is waking up in Ellie's closet."

"That is an excellent question," L mused, "perhaps we came here in a different way."

"That would explain why he didn't show up in my closet," Ellie commented. "But if it wasn't the shinigami, what could have brought you here?"

"It could have been your shiny person," He said with his mouth full.

Ellie knitted her eyebrows, "Do you think that's possible?"

"There was a time when I did not believe it possible to commit murder by writing a name in a notebook," L mentioned.

"Touché."

Shiny person? That had to be code. What were they talking about? L noticed my questioning look, but didn't elaborate. I stifled my annoyance; they knew I was trustworthy, why did they keep things from me, was I not part of this operation?

Kaneko was less silent about it, "Who's the 'shiny person?' What do they have to do with Kira?"

"That is an excellent question, Doctor," L muttered, "I would like to know myself."

"Basically," Ellie explained, "He's someone that I dream about frequently. I didn't think anything of it until he showed up in one of L's dreams too, but that only happened once. Since then he hasn't reappeared to him. I see him almost every night now. It used to be less often."

"Have you tried asking who he is?" Kaneko questioned.

She gave him a sarcastic look, "Oh, gee, I sure wish I'd thought of that."

"I already asked her that same thing some time ago," L said calmly, "Apparently whenever she makes any inquiry as to his own identity he fades away and she wakes up without an answer."

I glowered, "And you didn't care to mention this earlier?"

"It was not relevant until this moment," L said in his overly-cool tone. He took another bite of ice cream. "If we did arrive here in a different way than Mikami, we can assume there are others that Kira has brought here. At this point they could be anywhere."

"L," Ellie said, getting his attention, "You got ice cream on your nose."

He reached his hand up to wipe the smudge off his face, making her laugh.

"Why don't we have the police search the city for anyone without a valid ID?" I asked, "Anyone from our world wouldn't be recognized by the system."

"Do you intend to search every person in the world," Ellie asked, "Because that's the only way we could fish them all out."

"She is correct," L confirmed, "It would be a futile effort. Not to mention it would be like announcing to Kira that we are here. As soon as he even suspects that we may be in this world he'll write our names in the death note, and we'll be dead again."

"If you die," Ellie said, "I will kill you."

"Mr. Yagami," L addressed me, "I understand you may be tired, but if it's alright with you I would like to proceed our plan to speak with the shinigami king immediately."

Nothing would make me happier. I was anxious to get out and get things done. We'd been watching and waiting for far too long in my opinion. People were dying every day. Kira was a monster and had to be taken down as soon as possible. When I nodded, L had Watari bring down a tinted helmet. He told me it had a voice scrambler on it so I wouldn't be recognized. He gave me a wallet full of cash and a large cloak to hide under. That way no one would be able to see my body type.

I called a cab and had them take me to a different part of the city. From there I got in a different cab and did the same thing. I did that three times to ensure I wasn't being followed. The last one brought me to a hotel on the opposite side of the city from the tower. L had it under surveillance, so Ellie was able to assure me that there were no shinigami there.

I slept with a scarf wrapped around my face, just to be careful. I didn't want to take any chances; Kira was still sending out 13 shinigami a day to search the city. There's no way of knowing if they'd recognize me as Light's father or not. Still, it was better not to risk it.

I woke up and immediately put the helmet on. "Hello, is anyone there," I tested, "This is _Anon Terces_."

An altered voice sounded in my ear, "Yes, hello Anon. Did you sleep well?"

No I had not. But it's kind of hard to sleep when you're being hunted by supernatural entities. "Well enough," I said, "Am I clear to go in?" I didn't want to waste any time. The sooner I spoke to the shinigami king the better. We needed information and we needed it now.

"Yes," the voice confirmed, "All the preparations have been made. Remember to act as if you cannot see or hear Kira. If you react to anything he does you will be telling him that you can see him, and are therefore involved with the very people that he's searching for."

"Understood," I confirmed, throwing on my cloak. A lot was riding on this. If I gave any hint whatsoever linking myself to L, then Light would immediately know. He was easily capable of figuring it all out if anything went wrong.

I left the hotel and walked down the least crowded streets toward Kira. My helmet was fitted with cameras, so Ellie was able to watch for shinigami at any angle. She was tasked with keeping me informed of any movement. So far, everything had been quiet.

"Anon, stop where you are and hide somewhere on the left side of the street."

I did as I was told. When I was out of sight I asked quietly, "What is it?"

"Hold still and don't say a word."

I waited in an uncomfortable crouch for about five minutes before I was allowed to move.

"What was that about," I asked.

"There were two shinigami sitting on the roof just above you. They were talking about Kira."

"What did they say?"

"They were complaining. They're getting bored with searching every day and don't understand why they have to help some random human that's already dead. This means we might be able to get some of the shinigami to turn against Kira. Keep this in mind when you speak with their king."

That could be helpful. If we can turn the shinigami against Kira and get his current death note, then he'd be powerless. We had a chance.

With renewed confidence, I walked swiftly to the place Kira was hiding. I didn't bother knocking. This was nothing more than a condemned building occupied by a ghost. Looking inside I saw Light sitting at a computer, writing. He was oddly dark and almost transparent, like he was part shadow. Behind him, watching, was the shinigami king.

He was huge. Much bigger than he looked on the screens, and significantly more terrifying in person. He was a lot larger than the other shinigami had been. I forced myself to walk fully inside.

"Anon, there are several shinigami sitting around the room. They're looking at you, but they're not getting up. You know who the king is."

I stood to the side of the room, a reasonable distance away. Light stared at me suspiciously. He asked who I was. I ignored him, instead facing the shinigami king.

"Shinigami," I said, greeting him.

He stared back with interest, "Hello, human. You must be the one that took my death note."

Light turned to him in surprise, "Someone stole a death note and you didn't tell me?"

We both ignored him. "Yes, I am the one who took it," I said, "and now I have some questions for you."

He grinned, "Why don't you take off that mask of yours?"

I said nothing, staring him down behind my helmet and cloak.

"Who are you, human?"

I ignored the question, "Where do the notebooks come from?"

He chuckled. It was cold and deep. "Very well, if you must know, I make them. I'm the only one who can as a matter of fact."

"Did you give one to someone here? Is that why people keep dying of heart attacks," I pretended not to know.

"That's right. Now you have to answer one of my questions." He sat on the floor casually, "How did you steal my death note? Humans can't see shinigami unless they touch a notebook beforehand, but you knew exactly where to go with that little machine of yours."

I froze. I didn't know how to answer him. Fortunately, L did. He spoke in my ear, "Tell him there are a few cameras in this world that can see them. He's not from here, and neither is Light, so it'd be a plausible theory. They can't disprove it, since they can see shinigami no matter what."

I repeated his words, "There are some special cameras here that can see you. One of them was on the drone. That's how."

"How interesting," he laughed.

"My turn," I said, "I know you've brought people here from a different dimension. How many are there, and who are they?"

"Don't answer him," Light commanded.

Apparently the shinigami king didn't take orders, because he said, "Three, if you include the one doing all the killings." He smiled, "But he may not necessarily be what you define as a person."

"You fool," Light yelled, "What have you done?"

He ignored him again, "I suppose that means it's my turn again," he grinned, "So tell me… How do you know about the alternate dimensions?"

I heard L's voice, "Don't say anything."

I stood staring at the shinigami king for a while until he spoke again, "I see. Keeping secrets, are we? Very well. Then we have nothing more to discuss." He turned away from me, ending our conversation.

L spoke again, "That's all we'll get for now. Return to the hotel and await further instructions."

Without another word I turned around to leave, returning to the hotel. Ellie says I was being followed by none other than Ryuk, so I had to sleep in my helmet.

It was the worst night's sleep I ever had.


	26. Weston the Super-Sleuth

I'd have updated this earlier, but my Wi-Fi suddenly stopped and wouldn't start up again. It was the worst experience of my life, I had no idea what to do. Obviously not go outside or socialize, that's just crazy talk.

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Weston Clark's P.O.V.

There was something seriously fishy going on around here. I seemed to be the only one besides that old guy who ever left the tower. Not even the doctor ever went outside. And when the old guy did go out, he always covered his face as if he were hiding from some shady government agency.

Just what exactly did Lawrence do? The way everyone acts so secretive means that it's either illegal, or highly classified. Naturally, I had to investigate.

I made a plan; I would start at the bottom floor and search every room thoroughly. Then, I'd move upward to each floor one at a time until I got to the top. When I was certain no one would miss me, I put my scheme into action.

It didn't take long for me to find out that a good number of the doors were locked. This wouldn't do. I had to find a master key or something. The two people most likely to have one would be Lawrence or the old guy. Lawrence is never apart from Ellie, and he weirdly never seems sleep, so that's a no-go. It'll have to be the old guy. I'll follow him until he goes to sleep, then-

Oh, wait…

Ellie is the lady of the house. She'd probably just give one to me if I asked.

Yeah, that'd definitely be easier. I put a pin in the old guy plan just in case, then walked over to the staircase. Fifteen flights of stairs is an awful climb, but it's better than having to take an elevator. Elevators are Satan's nostrils…

When I had stopped wheezing from my climb to the fifteenth floor, I heard people talking from Ellie's medical room. It sounded important and secretive, so obviously, I decided to listen in.

"Anon, come in, are you awake?" Lawrence's voice called

A scrambled voice sounded from one of the speakers, "Yes, I am."

"Good. Now, listen very carefully, but do not speak. Ryuk is in the room with you."

This time it was Ellie's voice, "He's sitting on the night stand."

Were they playing D&D? How dare they start a campaign without me!

Lawrence said, "Get up, and move about as if you're preparing to leave. When you are ready, walk out the front of the hotel and turn left. Follow the street until we tell you to stop. Do not take any turns."

Then there was a click, like a button being pressed, and the conversation changed. It sounded like Lawrence and Ellie were suddenly in the middle of a game of chess. Yori commented, "Wow, Ellie, you're really getting good at this. I never would have thought of that."

"Yes, that was a very clever move, I am impressed," Lawrence mumbled, "Is the shinigami still following him?"

Shinigami… What's a shinigami? Was that Japanese for something? Maybe it was a monster in the game of D&D they might be playing. But then if they were playing D&D, then why are they playing chess now as if they were waiting for something? Plus, they sound too serious and secretive for it to be just a game. It's probably something more along the lines of a government code name. Was Lawrence a spy? If so that would be damn awesome and I'd chew Ellie's ear out for not telling me.

"Yeah, he's still there," Ellie answered Lawrence, "He's practically hovering on top of poor Mr. Yagami."

Mr. Yagami? Wasn't that the middle-aged man that hangs around here for whatever reason? When did he come into the conversation, I thought it was someone named Anon getting followed. Unless… Oh, of course! Anon must be Mr. Yagami's secret-agent code name. This was getting good.

There was another click and the conversation changed again, "Anon," Lawrence said, "ahead of you is a fruit stand. Go there and buy two dozen apples."

Apples? What the hell did apples have to do with anything? Was that code too, or did they just send a secret agent out to buy groceries?

I heard the scrambled voice over Ellie's speaker system again, "Hello, I would like two dozen apples please."

A new, not-scrambled voice came out of the speakers this time. It sounded like a woman, "Of course, one moment please."

"Funny how she didn't react to his attire," Yori commented, "he probably looks really weird hidden under that helmet and cloak."

Ellie laughed, "Yeah, probably."

"That apple just floated, right there, look," Yori pointed out, seemingly unsurprised at the oddity of his statement.

"Yep," Ellie confirmed, "Ryuk just stole an apple from the stand. He's gonna have a field day when he finds out all two-dozen are for him. Lucky little shinigami."

Someone slurped. I can only assume it was Lawrence, he always had tea or coffee with him and he had a clear disregard for table manners. He spoke, "Good, now go somewhere private where you won't be seen. When you're sure you're alone, clear your throat."

I heard a click again and it was back to chess, "Queen takes rook," Ellie said, "Checkmate!" She sounded proud of herself.

Yori sounded awestruck, "Wow, you actually did it… You beat L at chess."

"Hm… It would appear I have been defeated," I heard Lawrence's cool, calculating voice assess the situation. "I'd say you've earned some sort of prize. What would you like? I have a delicious slice of cake here if you want some."

"Well," Ellie's tone was triumphant and almost gloating, "I'll have to think about what sort of a reward this merits, won't I? But first, a kiss for the victor."

"As you wish," He said back to her.

Yori pretended to be disgusted, "Ew, get a room, guys."

"We have one," Ellie retorted back, "You're in it."

"Would you like me to leave you two alone?"

"I assure you, that won't be necessary," Lawrence said calmly. "Perhaps later, though."

"You two disgust me," Yori joked.

"Oh?" Ellie teased, "In that case... Get over here, you sexy detective, you."

Ah, so Lawrence was a detective. He must be damn good at his job to have this much dough come out of it. Maybe he was some sort of special cases consultant. If that's the case, what were they working on now?

The scrambled voice cleared their throat, "Ahem."

There was another click. "Are you certain that you are alone?" Lawrence asked, "Cough once for yes, twice for no."

The voice coughed once.

"Good. Now, when I whistle twice, repeat the words I say exactly. When I whistle again, stop repeating them. Is that clear?"

The voice coughed again.

Lawrence whistled two short bursts, then said, "Hello, Ryuk."

The voice repeated, "Hello, Ryuk"

I heard a scratching noise. It sounded like someone was writing something.

Lawrence waited a moment, then continued, "Yes, I can. Here, have an apple."

More scratches.

The voice continued repeating what he said, "I know you couldn't care less about Kira and his cause. So, I've come to offer you a deal. Bring me a page ripped from each of the other shinigami's notebooks, and I'll give you two dozen apples for each one, plus another two dozen every week for a year afterwards if you don't tell anyone about this."

That sounded sketchy. Maybe Lawrence was a detective-slash-mob-boss in his spare time.

There was more writing.

"It doesn't matter what I want with them. It would cost you nothing, and earn you all the apples you could want. Do we have a deal?"

More scratching, but this time it was short.

"Good. Start by placing a page from your own death note in my hand, and you can have the rest of this bag. I'll be back in two days for the next ones."

Lawrence whistled twice again, signaling for the voice to stop repeating him, "Okay, now that you have the page, tuck it safely away in your wallet, and give Ryuk the bag of apples. Good, now walk away and take a cab. Make sure no one follows you when you return. We'll keep watch to ensure no other shinigami see you."

There was another click and Yori breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "That was intense. Glad it worked."

"Yes, this operation was hazardous," Lawrence said calmly, "If Ryuk had rejected our offer and gone to tell Kira, we'd be in danger of discovery. We also would never again have the opportunity to approach Kira without incredible risk. It is fortunate this went so well."

Suddenly the door opened, making me fall to the ground into the room. Everyone stopped and looked at me.

Oh, shit…


	27. Not a Dog

No one has even attempted my riddle yet. Should I give a hint?

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

Yori walked toward the door. He'd told us beforehand that he'd only be staying while we made the arrangement with Ryuk, but he hadn't had anything to eat all day so he was eager to get some lunch. "That was intense. Glad it worked out."

"Yes, this operation was hazardous," L said, "If Ryuk had rejected our offer and gone to tell Kira, we'd be in danger of discovery. We also would never again have the opportunity to approach Kira without incredible risk. It is fortunate this went so well."

Yori turned the handle and pulled on the door. He jumped back in surprise as someone suddenly fell to his feet. L and I looked down and saw none other than Weston, sprawled on the ground like a bottle of spilt glitter. He must've been eavesdropping.

Yori glared at him, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, you know, just getting acquainted with the floor. You never know when it'll decide to fall from under you, I want to be in its good graces," Weston tried to joke, but he couldn't hide the nervousness in his voice.

"Mr. Clark, would you mind telling us exactly how long you have been pressing your ear to the door?" L asked calmly.

"I… Um, well" He stammered, "only a few hours." He tried to look innocent.

"Ugh, Weston," I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, "Do you know how hard I've tried to keep you out of this whole mess?" I put my hand down, "I guess you've made my life a whole lot easier. Unfortunately for you," I looked him intensely in the eye, "That means yours just got a whole lot worse."

He stood up from the ground, brushing off his bright red dress, "Worse how?"

Yori grumbled, "annoying prick," under his breath before walking away to eat his long-coveted lunch.

L spoke, "By listening on us, you have officially become a part of this operation. Please be aware that any and all activities and conversations you take part in from this point on will be highly classified and you are not to breathe a word of it to anyone outside of this facility. Is that clear?"

He stared at my husband, wide-eyed, "Uh, yeah, okay. What is this 'operation,' exactly?"

And so, we told him. We explained all about the anime, Kira, the shinigami, even the shiny person. I kept watch on the monitors while L described the situation. By the time our tale had been fully told, Mr. Yagami had returned. He took off his helmet and walked into the medical room.

"I'm back," He said, "I've got-" He paused when he saw Weston in the room.

"It's quite alright, Mr. Yagami, or friend here is now well aware of what is going on. Please hand me the death note page," L held out his hand, taking the piece of paper. He pressed the button on his microphone with a click, "Watari, would you please bring down the two death notes."

"Of course," Watari replied, "Were you successful in your mission?"

"Yes, extremely," L confirmed and turned off the microphone. He finished off the last of his cake. "Mr. Clark, if you have any questions, now would be the time to ask them."

When Watari had come downstairs with the Light and the Shinigami king's notebooks, L had Weston touch each one and look at the monitors. Weston was speechless. He stared at us like we had worms crawling out of our ears.

"Well," I said, "Now you know why hundreds of people die from heart attacks on a daily basis. It's not divine, and it's not judgement day. It's just a certifiably psychopathic ghost of a man from another dimension, trying to play God. Nothing more."

"Nothing more?" Weston repeated incredulously, "Do you realize how insane this all is? If I hadn't just heard that whole conversation with your new shinigami friend I'd think this was just another one of your facetious stories!"

I shrugged, "At least you know why we asked you to dress us in drag that one time. Kira still thinks his book was taken by a man."

"Hold on," Weston took a deep breath to calm himself, "So, Lawrence's name isn't really Lawrence? Is name is literally just the letter 'L'?"

L started stacking sugar cubes one on top of the other, "That is correct. But you may continue referring to me as Lawrence, just to be safe."

"Why," Weston asked, "Everyone else here always calls you L. I thought it was just a nickname you preferred instead of Larry."

I ran my hands across my face, groaning, "Because, sweetie, you're new and we don't want you to let anything slip. Not even accidentally."

He looked offended that I would even imply such a thing. He'd always went out of his way to keep secrets. Unfortunately, as seen here, he also went out of his way to know them. He was nosy and this was what he gets for it; a secret just a little too big for him to handle. Weston was too curious for his own good.

"Mr. Clark, please go and watch the entire anime," L said, still stacking sugar cubes, "It's important for you to have all the information."

Not knowing how to react, Weston – for the first time in his life – didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around, and slowly walked away, scratching his head.

When he was gone, I flopped back on the bed, slightly bumping my head on the wall, "Ow…" I sighed, "I was hoping he would be able to restrain himself. We should probably set up sensors outside the door to prevent this from happening again."

"Yes, I think that would be best," L confirmed, placing one final sugar cube on the stack before they all tumbled down. He popped one in his mouth, "This does make things much simpler though."

"For us, yeah, but Weston's going to have a panic attack."

"Hm." He ate another sugar cube. "In any case, what's done is done."

"I just wish he understood the phrase, 'Ignorance is bliss.' He just added a whole lot of stress to his normally carefree drag show. I wouldn't be surprised if he started worrying about getting wrinkles and grey hairs."

L changed the subject, "Have you considered a reward for defeating me?"

Oh, so he was serious about that. Well, in that case, I wanted something a lot better than a slice of cake. I could go for something small, like a date night, or I could ask for something big like a trip home. It was probably too risky to ask to go back, sadly, but I enjoyed the thought.

No, I knew exactly what I wanted. Something I had been wishing for ever since I moved out of my parent's house. When I left, I had to leave behind something precious to me, and I dearly missed it. But sadly, it technically belonged to the family and I could therefore not keep it for myself.

I grinned, "I want a dog."

L looked at me curiously, "A dog?"

"Yes," I said, "Not a purebred though, I want a rescue from a shelter. And I want to help pick it out, which means another outing."

He could tell I was not asking. I had earned it, after all. He looked skeptical, but said, "I suppose."

If I could, I'd have jumped up to hug him. Instead, I had to settle for giving him a wide grin. "Thanks, L."

Once again, I was not allowed out without my doctor and a trained ex-officer to protect me. L came along too. Everyone wore masks, and Watari kept an eye outside the shelter with a sniper rifle in hand, just in case anything went south. He sat in the limo to wait. That left Weston being stuck with monitor-duty. He was to notify us immediately if anything suspicious were to happen. Most people would consider this overboard, but I knew better. All of it was necessary.

We pulled up to the animal shelter, people already gawking at the limousine, but their stares got even worse when we all climbed out. I suppose we must have made quite an odd image: A bandaged woman in a wheelchair, a hunched over man as pale as a ghost, a guy in a lab coat, and a tall dude in a suit. I'm sure our matching masks didn't help.

An old man at a desk greeted us as we went inside, "Hello, welcome." He looked up to see us and nearly jumped, "What's with the masks?" He asked cautiously.

"My wife was caught in a grease fire and was badly burned." L lied, "Please don't ask us to remove them. She feels self-conscious enough about it without being the only one wearing one."

"Oh, I see. I'm very sorry," The man gave me a pitying look, "How can I help you?"

"We want to adopt a dog," I said simply.

"Right this way," he walked through a door that led to a room filled with cramped metal cages. Inside each one was an animal. Cats and dogs, mostly, but there were some others. I thought I even saw a raccoon, but it was hard to be sure. The room was dimly lit and it smelled awful. They all looked so sad and unkempt, it broke my heart. This was exactly why I wanted to adopt; I hated seeing these innocent creatures stuck living like this.

"The canines are in the back corner. I'll be out front when you've decided which one you want." The man left the four of us alone.

I scanned the cages. I couldn't see the top row, which was annoying. On the door of each one was a piece of paper, hand-written, describing the dogs' general behavior.

" _Mork - male: Terrier mix. Violent to strangers, but gentle and cuddly to known friends._ " He growled at us as we passed his cage.

" _Dayzee - female: Unknown breed. Very friendly, a little crazy, will lick your face constantly_." She hit her head against the wall, trying to get our attention.

I read all the signs that I could see. There were five on each row, meaning I could only see ten of them. None of these were the right one. I had a feeling I'd know the one I wanted when I saw them. I needed to get a look at the top row.

Without looking at Yori, I said, "I'm going to stand up."

"No, you're not," He demanded, just as I knew he would.

I smirked behind my mask, "Then there's only one thing we can do. You two," I gestured to Yori and L, "are going to have to lift me up. I need to look at the top row."

"That sounds like a terrible idea," Yagami commented, "what's wrong with the dogs on this row?"

"None of them are quite right. I'll know it when I see them."

I braced myself as Yori sighed, "You really are like a child," grabbing one side of my chair. L grabbed the other and they lifted me up just enough to see the top row.

Immediately – just as I'd predicted – I knew the one I wanted. Inside the cage was a beautiful creature. It had thick, grey fur and was curled up, sleeping.

" _Unnamed - female: Silver Fox. Gentle and cuddly, obedient but easily frightened._ "

"That one," I said without hesitation.

"That one?" Yori asked, setting me back down, "But it's not even a dog."

"Don't care. It's a canine, that's close enough. She's perfect."

"Leave it to you to choose a dog that isn't a dog."

There were stars in my eyes as Yagami went to fetch the owner. We got a leash and collar, as well as some other important supplies. Our new addition sat on my lap, shaking. She was scared, and unsure of what was going on, but I gently stroked her fur and that seemed to help calm her down. Once she had decided I was not a threat, she cuddled up to me, claiming me as her own.

"Excuse me," Mr. Yagami said, "But how did a fox get to Tokyo?"

"This poor thing escaped from an illegal fur trade," the man explained, "By the time the police found the rest of them it was too late."

"That's awful…" I commented, suddenly feeling very protective of my new pet.

"Well then, what will you be naming her? I need it for the paperwork," the man clicked a pen and waited for my answer.

I thought for a moment, then made up my mind. The silver fox was one of my little sisters' favorite animals. So, I decided to name it after her. "Gwyneth," I said. The man wrote it down and it was official; our family had grown by one.

When everything was settled, we got back into the limo and drove off. I looked outside and didn't see any shinigami, so we went straight to the tower. By the time we arrived, Gwyneth had gotten used to us and was no longer flinching at every move we made. Yori pushed my chair back into the medical room and helped me on the bed. Gwyneth looked around curiously, but soon got bored and climbed up on my lap.

I thought she was asleep until she jumped up and nearly fell off the bed. I grinned, because I felt it too.

"L, come here." He gave me a question look, but did as directed. I took his hand and placed it on top of my belly, "Feel that? Nate just kicked."

L stared, looking like he was in awe. He pressed his ear against the now-large bump on my stomach, "It seems he did," He whispered, smiling softly.


	28. Stay With Me

Shout out to Sano Sauro for figuring out the riddle. The rest of you didn't even try. *sad face*

Review and let me know what you think.

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

The shinigami king said that they had brought three people here. One was Light Yagami, the second was Teru Mikami. That left one more person unaccounted for. It's safe to say by now that only people who have died can move between worlds. Therefore, there are only a few people who the third person could be. It was a safe bet that they would be a supporter of Kira. It was also obvious that they must have been important or useful in some way, otherwise they'd not have been brought here. That narrows it down to two people. It'd have to either be Misa Amane or Kiyomi Takada. Kira would not likely risk bringing someone who he openly betrayed as they could not be counted on to be loyal.

That meant the third person had to be Misa Amane. As I understand it, she committed suicide after learning of Light's death. Since Teru Mikami still had his shinigami eyes, it was safe to assume that Misa did too. This meant that she can kill with only a face, so we needed to be extra cautious.

Based on the fact that she's an idiot and likely would not be capable of surviving in another country, it was probable that she was still in Japan. Kira would also likely keep her close in order to give her orders when needed. She may very well be in Tokyo as we speak.

I spoke on the phone with a sketch artist and had them draw up a not-anime depiction on Misa. I faxed it to the police with the instructions to seek her out using the utmost discretion. "You are not to engage," I ordered, "You are to find her and tail her from a safe distance. Do not let her see your face." Luckily, at this point, I had the entire Japanese police force – among others – wrapped around my finger.

Ryuk brought us one new Death Note page every week; We now had 12 new shinigami visible to us. That made 14 out of 23. Each week we'd keep an eye on a different one, analyzing their personality. I found that a good deal of them couldn't care less about Kira, they were just doing what their king told them to do. So, that begs the question, why does the king care? If he were so interested in creating a new world like Light Yagami was, then why did he give Soichiro all the information he had without hesitation? Did he have some other motive? The shinigami king was a strange riddle that still required solving.

The woman selling the apples started smiling every time Soichiro showed up, even though she hadn't ever seen his face. We were giving her a good deal of business for a shop her size. Once she even baked an apple pie on the house to show her thanks. It was delicious. I made sure to have Mr. Yagami offer her a large tip from that point on.

In the meantime, we had an entirely different issue to deal with:

Ellie was screaming in pain, "Ahhhhhh, what is this demon magic?"

"It's just contractions, Ellie, breathe through it," doctor Kaneko instructed.

"Say that again and I will stab you," She threatened, but attempted to breathe nonetheless. She arched her back as another wave of pain pulsed through her body.

Weston grabbed her hand, "It's okay, sweetie, you got this."

A tear fell down her cheek, "It hurts…"

"I know, honey, I know, but it'll be over soon. Any minute now you'll finally get to meet your son after nine long months. Imagine holding him in your arms, won't that be amazing?"

That helped console her a bit, but not much. Personally, I was less worried about her pain and more concerned about her bleeding. While the stab wounds had closed long ago, the muscular bruises hadn't healed fast enough. She was in considerable danger. I bit my thumb as I watched on, hoping against all odds that the heart monitor would continue beeping.

She'd been going through labor all day now. It was already 11:49 in the afternoon and her screams were only getting worse. I hadn't realized the full extent of her voice until now. She was earth-shattering.

"Yori, make it stop!" she pleaded.

"We've done everything we can to make this easier on you," he said, "At this point all we can do is watch and wait."

Her eyes locked on mine and she held my gaze, "L…"

I stood up and walked to her, stroking her hair, "It's quite alright. Just focus on the task at hand." It was now 11:53

Mr. Yagami came in, "I have the warm towels you asked for," he handed them to Kaneko who placed them on a table.

"Okay, Ellie, listen to me, I'm gonna need you to push. Ready?" He positioned himself, "One, two, push!"

She released a fresh scream of pain, crushing Weston's hand. 11:57

"Good, keep going, don't stop," Kaneko encouraged.

Ellie gave everything she had, sweat dripping down her forehead.

"Almost there, one last push!" 11:59

With one final cry, her screams ceased and were replaced with the sounds of a crying baby.

12:00 and Nate River Lawliet was born.

Kaneko looked at me, "Want to cut the cord?"

I took the tool he handed me and snipped the umbilical cord. Kaneko wrapped Nate in a towel and handed him to Ellie. She smiled, looking down at our son, "He looks just like you."

I leaned down to inspect him. He did resemble me. He had my pale skin and thick raven hair.

"Oh no… No no no no no, Ellie stay with me, please," Kaneko pleaded. I looked up to see what was wrong. She was still bleeding.

I looked on helplessly as she slowly closed her eyes, the heart monitor falling to a single line.

12:01

Ellie was dead.


	29. Shining Dust

I've had some reviewers trying to get me to write certain events. However, I've had this planned out from the beginning, so Ellie was doomed to die in childbirth since the moment L showed up in her closet. The story's not over yet though, read on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, as much as I wish I did.

The song featured in this chapter is called Gaeta's Lament. If you go on YouTube and search "L singing" you can find it being sung by the same person who voices L in the English Dub. It's gorgeous and I highly recommend listening to it. If you want to get the full effect of the chapter, listen to it when you come to the part it's sung when you're reading. It'll probably make you cry, so keep tissues on hand. Enjoy the chapter, my beloved readers!

* * *

Yori Kaneko's P.O.V.

I was vaguely aware of someone shrieking in anguish. It took me a moment to realize it was me. Ellie can't be gone. It's not possible. She was going to make it. She had to. I'd tried so hard to patch her up… but it wasn't enough. This was my fault. If I had just done a better job as her doctor she could have been okay. She would have. Her son wouldn't have to grow up without a mother if I had done things right.

She lay there, clutching Nate in her arms. She looked happy and peaceful; like she was sleeping. Her son had settled down, and was calmly resting against her chest, soaking in the last of her body heat.

I looked up at L. He had his forehead rested against hers. I had never seen him express much emotion, but right now, he was crying. Silent tears fell down his cheeks and he looked even more upset than I was. The sight broke my heart.

L's tears were contagious. I felt my eyes begin to water and my chest tighten. I broke down, falling to my knees at Ellie's feet. I was so cold and distraught that I didn't even recoil when that asshole Weston knelt beside me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I even found myself hugging him back. We needed the comfort. We buried our faces in each other's necks, trying to hide from the grief.

That's when I heard someone singing. It wasn't Ellie. It would never be Ellie... It wasn't even Weston. It was none other than L Lawliet himself. I looked up to see him cradling the baby in his arms, singing a soft and eerie lullaby, tears still falling down his cheeks:

"Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man

With my three wishes clutched in her hand.

The first that she be spared the pain

That comes from a dark and laughing rain.

When she finds love, may it always stay true.

This I beg for the second wish I made too.

But wish no more;

My life you can take

To have her please just one day wake.

To have her please just one day wake."

The room was silent as everyone stared. We were empty. Ellie had been the glue that kept us all together; Without her, we were nothing.

What now?

The door slowly opened and Watari entered the room, Gwyneth at his heels. The little fox had been sitting by the door all day. We couldn't let an animal be in the room during delivery, much to the creature's dismay.

"I'm so sorry," Watari said, walking over to L, placing a fatherly hand on his shoulder.

L reacted by burying his face in Watari's chest, clinging to him like a lost child, "I don't know what to do," his voice broke.

Gwyneth padded up to the bed, jumping up beside Ellie. She nuzzled her face, giving a gentle nudge to try and wake our fallen angel. When Ellie inevitably didn't move, she curled up next to her, whining. I guess even foxes could cry.

Watari pulled L into a hug, being careful not to crush the baby, "You don't have to do anything. Not right now."

Nate started fussing. I took him out of his father's arms; I still needed to bathe and screen him. No matter how somber I was, I'm still the doctor. Once he was clean, I carried him to a scale, writing down his weight and length on my clipboard. I checked his vitals. He appeared to be in prime health. I tested for hearing, and he responded well. Wrapping him back up in a soft blanket, I handed him back to L, "He's perfectly healthy. No problems, even despite everything. It's miraculous, to be honest."

Watari stepped back to allow the genius detective enough room to hold his newborn. Other than the dark bags under L's eyes, Nate looked exactly him. I briefly wondered what his eyes would look like once they opened. Would they be obsidian black like L's, or would they look more like Ellie's? Hers had been the deepest brown. They glistened. Every time I had looked into her eyes, I'd felt the world brighten just a little bit. It was one of the many things I'd loved about her.

Gwyneth suddenly seemed to notice the baby. She looked up cautiously, tilting her head. Standing up, she stalked around to the other side of the bed to get a closer look at the bundle in L's arms. She sniffed at it, flicking her tail. L sat down in his odd way, holding his son out in front of him with both arms. Gwyneth took the opportunity to climb on the back of his chair and stare curiously at the child.

Nate's eyes blinked open and everyone in the room gasped; His eyes weren't brown or even black; They were a striking grey. He stared intently at the fluffy creature in front of him, then scanned the room, his gaze eventually resting on L.

They looked at each other for the longest time. Nate and L Lawliet were so similar it was almost frightening. Nate was even pressing the inside of his thumb to his bottom lip just like I'd seen L do all the time. If it weren't for the eyes and obvious age difference, they'd be nearly identical.

Suddenly, our attention was drawn back to Ellie. Something was happening.

She was turning into sand. Her body began to dissolve into the purest white sand I'd ever seen, glittering like diamonds. In only a few seconds she'd become no more than a pile of shining white dust.

"That's not normal," Weston commented. I was too busy silently agreeing with him to snap back my usual sarcastic retort. What was going on?

L played with his bottom lip, "How interesting…"


	30. Memories

Do you guys remember Yori's joke alias? (You know, the one that made Ellie almost choke on gummy bears?) Well my family recently got 5 baby hens and they said I get to name one. I named her Balfadon the Destroyer, after our beloved Yori.

Also, I got a reviewer saying babies aren't born with hair, but myself along with all three of my siblings were. In fact, my aunt was born with her fingers tangled so badly in her hair, that they had to cut it just to get her hand free. While it's true that most people are born bald, it's not a requirement.

Lots of questions get answered in this chapter, so buckle up, enjoy, and don't forget to review!

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

The last thing I saw before I faded away was the face of my son. All the pain from my bruises and scars was gone. I felt strong and powerful, like I'd been liberated from all the cares of the world.

All around me was nothing but light. Everything was white and silver. I dug my does into the soft ground beneath me, looking down to find it was a delicate sand. Surrounding me was the sweetest music, seeming to come from every direction. It had no melody and no rhythm, but it felt so pure. I breathed in deeply; the air smelled clean and fresh like a mountain forest just after rainfall.

I felt a presence behind me. Turning around, I saw a familiar figure: The Shiny Person. Only now, I could see him clearly. Even though I'd never seen him in my life, I knew exactly who he was.

I dropped my knee, bowing my head, "My king."

He smiled, speaking in his familiar, calming voice, "Rise, child. You do not need to bow to me like your brothers and sisters."

I stood up, running to embrace the figure I so dearly loved and respected.

The moment I touched him, memories started flowing through me. I remembered my creation, which was later followed by the birth of others like me; my little siblings. I remembered my light, outshining everyone. I remembered the man in front of me, praising each good deed like they were the most precious thing in the world. Every life I saved from despair made me glow brighter. My brightness was exceeded only by the man standing in front of me.

We were gods of life, and I was the king's first daughter. Due to the intense glow that I had earned over several millennia of good deeds, I came to be known as Guardian. It was the only name I had at the time. One day, my father came to me and told me I was being sent on a mission. He wouldn't tell me what it was, only that I had to complete a number of steps before I could complete it, and that the fate of all life hung in the balance.

First, I had to be born into a human body and raised among men. That was the only way I'd be able to blend in. This would also ensure that I grew attached to humans. If I hadn't, I may not have been motivated to save them. "The task ahead is a difficult one," he'd said, "You will need more than just the goodness in your heart to complete it."

Second, I had to become my own person. Before, I had merely existed. I was ignorant and naïve of how the world works, only borrowing my father's beliefs. Because I had gotten to be human, I also got to learn. And I have learned so much. I've learned about friendship, art, humor, culture, love, and so much more. Even though I know that I was never truly human, I'm still the same Ellie.

Next, I had to fall in love. Check that off the list ten-fold. Funny enough, L had not been the one hand-picked for me; he was only supposed to assist me in my mission. Our union was merely a happy accident. My father had conditioned someone from Tokyo to become my husband, long before I met L. He didn't tell me who, but he had a whole elaborate plan to make it so we would inevitably meet. I asked him for a name, but before he sent me to Earth he told me I'd discover it all in due time. Even so, I couldn't imagine anyone better than L. He had taught me so much and loved me far deeper than I ever thought someone could. People view him as cold and calculating, but I know him to be good at heart.

After I'd fallen in love, I had to experience pain. Teru Mikami finding me was no accident, and neither was his timing. Those months when I didn't know if I'd live or die was mentally draining. I put on a good show of optimism for the others, but deep down I was terrified. Each day was just a different form of torture. Still, I couldn't bring myself to sacrifice my son; while that may be the right path for some, it was not mine.

The next thing I had to do was create life. This was the main purpose of our kind. Gods of death kill. Gods of life create. We keep each other in balance, making it so all the worlds are in a constant flow of motion. As a woman, I had the physical ability to create life, even in a human body. If I hadn't done so, I would not be able to regain the memory of who I was.

The last thing he told me was that I would have to die. If I remained trapped in my human shell, I'd never earn the ability to confront Kira. Because he was not fully human anymore, a human entity was incapable of touching him. The only reason I could see him in my human body was simply because my soul was not human. But, having shed my mortal skin, I would now be able to do much more than see and hear him.

"There are many more things which must be done after you have completed these steps," my father had said, "But those you will need to discover for yourself. When you return to me, dear child, you will know what your mission is. From that point on, it will be up to you."

I had come this far. My father released me from his warm embrace, holding my shoulders at arm's length, "Guardian, you have done so well."

"Thank you, Daddy," I said, smiling affectionately at the person I know and love, "But I still have a lot I need to do. I know my mission. The purpose for all of this is to defeat Kira once and for all, isn't it?"

He nodded, "You are correct. But remember, the future is not set in stone. Even I don't know for certain what the outcome will be. As you well know, L was not meant to be your lover, he was intended to be your assistant. Your husband was supposed to be someone else entirely. This alone is proof enough of how malleable the future is. Be steadfast. Do not allow Light Yagami to win this war."

I nodded, sensing a change in the surrounding music. I looked down at the sparkling sand beneath me, "It's time for me to leave you again, isn't it?"

He smiled gently, taking my hand and placing a kiss on my fingertips, "I will see you again soon, Guardian. Make me proud."

With that, everything around me slowly disappeared. My consciousness woke up back in my medical room bed, only I was no longer in a human body; I was a pile of stardust. It was the same glittering white sand as the stuff in my realm. Immediately after, I flowed off the bed, landing on the floor. I formed into myself, bathed in my own gleaming light. Everyone in the room tried to look at me, but were forced to cover their eyes as if blinded.

I remembered how easily their eyes could be damaged by exposure to too much light, so I focused on reigning. It was not without effort. Once I was done, I looked at my hands to make sure most of the light had dimmed. I still shone a bit, but for the most part I was back to normal.

I appraised myself, overlooking the flesh I was always meant to have. I didn't look much different. The only real changes were my scars; all of them were gone, along with my bruises. I can only assume this is because those injuries never happened to this body. I was as fresh and new as my infant son.

I looked up to see everyone staring open-mouthed at me. Their eyes were red and puffy. Weston's eyeliner had streaked all down his face, which I'm sure he won't be happy about later. Locking eyes with L, he gazed at me like I was some sort of vision. In his arms was Nate. I smiled, walking over to take the child in my arms. He was beautiful. His eyes were silver, like the stardust I came from.

"Hi Nate," I said softly, "I'm your Momma."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

After the initial shock had worn off, everyone started talking at once. I handed Nate over to Watari to keep him from being crushed. They swarmed me with questions.

"What just happened?"

"How are you still alive?"

"What happened to your scars, and why the hell are you glowing?"

"Honey, where did that fabulous white dress come from?"

I held my hand up, silencing them, "Woah, hold on, one at a time," I laughed, "I can imagine you have a lot of questions."

"You could say that," Yori said."

L played with his bottom lip, "First of all-"

I interrupted him by grabbing his shirt and pulling him into a kiss. For the first time since I met him, he didn't finish his sentence, instead melting into my touch. He tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling me closer to him. He must've been pretty upset, because his cheeks were wet. I can't remember ever seeing him cry. It was oddly flattering.

Yori cleared his throat awkwardly, "Ahem. We're still here, lovebirds."

We separated and I looked into my husband's black eyes. He stared back, but his face changed from pure awe to interest when he looked at mine, "What happened to your eyes?"

"My eyes?" I raised an eyebrow, then remembered, "Oh, that. This is the color they were before I was human." I'd gotten dark brown eyes from my biological parents, but my true form – while nearly identical – did have a few differences; My silver eyes being one of them. That's likely where Nate got it.

Weston grabbed my shoulders and whipped me around, "What's that supposed to mean, 'before you were human?' What else would you be?"

I held back a laugh, "Did no one find it odd how not only could I see all the shinigami, but that I didn't have a name or life span?"

"Yes, I did find that curious," L said, taking Nate back from Watari.

Weston took him from L's unsuspecting hands, "Oh, I wanna hold him!"

We ignored him, letting him coddle the baby. "Well," I said, "Now I know why."

"Please, enlighten us," Yagami said.

"I was sent here," I explained, "My memories had been locked so that I could learn how to truly be human. When I died, I got them back, and I was freed from my mortal form. Now I'm back to how I'm supposed to be."

"And how exactly are you supposed to be," L asked.

I smirked, imagining their reactions. I decided to toy with them a bit, "Oh, me? Nah, you don't want to know that badly, do you? It's only super important for the fate of mankind, so I'm sure we can skip it."

Yori rolled his eyes, "Oh please, just shut up and tell us."

"Ellie, sweetie, you've got us on the hook, congratulations. Now ease our suffering and just tell us what the hell is going on!" Weston was rocking back and forth, lulling my son to sleep.

"Please don't use such language around my son," I scolded playfully, mostly to draw out their curiosity.

"Ellie," Mr. Yagami said quietly, "Please."

I sighed dramatically, "Well, if you must know; I am basically the opposite of a shinigami. Instead of a god of death," I looked at a little plant on the windowsill and touched its pedals, making it grow larger before their eyes, "I am a god of life."

Yori's eyes widened, but it got weird when he fell to the ground and started bowing, muttering something in Japanese.

"Dude, stop, what are you doing?" I reached down and grabbed his arm to help him up. He looked up at me in a very non-Yori-like way, as if he were praying to the virgin Mary or something. It was unsettling and more than a bit creepy. My father may be used to being worshiped, but it wasn't really my thing.

"Well well, looks like the good doctor is religious," Weston teased, "Never would have guessed." He pretended to be unfazed, but even through his foundation I could see that my drag-queen bestie was paler than usual. Jokes were just his defense mechanism.

"Yori, for real, you don't need to be all formal and stuff. I'm still me, just less fragile."

He snapped out of it and stood up, awkwardly adjusting his glasses, "Sorry… Excuse me, I just- I need a minute." And with that he walked out to get some air.

I raised my eyebrows, "Well, alright then, see you later I guess?"

"You can't blame him," Mr. Yagami said, "he's been fawning over you for months, and to suddenly drop a bombshell like that, it must be shocking. I myself am having difficulty wrapping my head around it."

"Yeah, I guess it's a lot to take in." Wait, did he just say Yori was fawning over me? Since when?

L looked at me, thinking, "It does explain quite a bit."

I smiled. My husband could not be easily shocked.

"This could be a game changer," he continued, "we may defeat Kira after all. I admit, I was beginning to have doubts."

"If you'll excuse me," Watari said, heading out the door, "I'll leave you two be. Weston, Mr. Yagami, would you care to join me in the control room?"

Weston pouted, but followed them out, giving Nate back to me. They left us alone with our little family. When it was quiet again, I saw Gwyneth peeking out from behind a chair, shivering. Poor thing must've been scared to death.

"Come on," I said, "Let's get out of this awful room, I'm sick of these walls."

"I can't imagine why," L said sarcastically.

We made our way to the top floor, where we'd set up a nursery for Nate.

And, just for a moment, everything was perfect.


	31. Seeing Red

I hope you all had a Happy Easter! (To those of you who celebrate it, at least. To those who don't: I hope you had a Happy Sunday!)

So, I may or may not be going on a hiatus. Finals are coming up, and failing would be less than ideal, so I need to be spending more energy on school. I'll still try to update at least twice a week though, so be not afraid, but don't get upset if you don't get a new chapter every day like normal.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. (But holy heavens, I wish I did.)

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

"What the fudgenuggets is Capoeira?"

There was that word again. I knew she was against swearing, but she truly went the extra mile. I briefly wondered if our son would pick up on her odd habits; Not that I had room to talk. Speaking of, Nate was sitting in a fenced-off area in the corner of the room chewing on his stuffed spider-toy. He watched us curiously.

We stood on the second floor, where all our recreational equipment was held. Aside from the pool and hot tub, it also had a gym and an open area for dancing or – as we are about to do – combat training. Ellie may be a literal goddess, but she was harmless; I've never even seen her kill a fly.

"Capoeira is a martial art that involves dance and acrobatics. It originated from Brazil. It is not a common or well-known practice, which in and of itself is an advantage. If an enemy is trained, but they aren't familiar with your fighting style, then it's significantly more difficult for them to counter your attacks. It is partially because of this that I chose to master it."

"Dance?" She cringed, "I'm no good at dancing. I have training in 7 different styles, and I'm only sort of okay at some of them. I even practiced Ballet for 9 years straight and never surpassed the skill level of a 12-year old. If Capoeira has a dance element, I'm already pretty sure I'll stink."

"If that's so," I said, looking at her through a lock of hair, "then you have already failed because of an unwillingness to learn. Shame, I thought you were more determined to take down Kira." I egged her on. I knew I'd strike a nerve if I worded things right.

Unfortunately, she knew me too well, "Don't you go all manipulative on me, I'm not falling for it. I promised I'd train with you, I never promised I'd be a perfect little debonair student. Take it or leave it," She folded her arms and gave me a don't-even-try-it stare.

I smirked. God, I love her. "Very well," I surrendered, "although you'd do well to have more confidence. You have a far more capable body now. Any limitations you had before are no longer a factor. All you need is technique. Strength training and flexibility are no problem; you proved that last night." I referenced her newly-acquired vigor in the bedroom. Apparently, she missed being able to move freely, and now that she could, she was not wasting it.

"Fie upon thee," She teased, quoting Hero from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, "Art thou not ashamed?"

I responded by reciting the next line, "Is it not honorable to be the heavier for a husband?" Something about quoting Shakespeare always made her grin. I've come to notice it was one of her favorite ways to flirt second only to sarcastic teasing and followed closely by fluffy compliments. I tried to implement all three on a daily basis at least once.

"You sure know how to charm a girl, don't you?" She laughed.

Nate made a noise and Ellie glanced his direction, a sweet smile on her face. She'd been playing with him nonstop for the past several hours, and was reluctant to stop, but I'd asked her to join me. She's been particularly active since her little revelation, refusing to take a single day to vedge like she used to enjoy doing.

She's also been slightly more mischievous. I'd always had a bad case of insomnia, but I'm only human so I still have to sleep now and again. When I do, I wake up to find Ellie staring at me. Evidently, she no longer needed to rest, so I got a taste of my own medicine; she nearly startled me out of my chair when my eyes opened up to find her an inch away from my face, grinning like a she-devil. Once, she even dressed up as me, with a wig and makeup and everything in order to get a perfect likeness – provided by none other than Weston – and imitated my sitting position, just to see how I'd react. I don't know how long she sat there waiting for me to wake up, but knowing her it could easily have been hours. Apparently, creatures who've existed for millennia were surprisingly patient.

I walked up and whispered in her ear to get her attention, "Shall we begin?"

She pretended to roll her eyes and gave me a melodramatic curtsey, "As you wish, good sir." She stood back up, using the movement as an excuse to move closer her face closer to mine. We were an inch apart. She was trying to distract me.

I was having none of that. Instead of giving in to her intoxicating scent and leaning forward, I began our training by taking her by surprise. I whipped around and swept her leg, knocking her off her feet. She gasped in surprise, falling to the ground. That caused her to lose her concentration, and she released her glow, temporarily blinding me. Nate squinted his eyes, giggling at the sight.

"Cheater," She accused, imitating my move and using it on me. Her form was sloppy, but impressive for a first try. I jumped over her leg and landed on the ground in a crouch, one hand on the floor for support.

"It's my nature," I responded, "Did you expect any different?" I went in for another strike, holding nothing back. This time she saw it coming and jumped, performing a perfect backflip. I glanced at her feet and briefly noticed she wasn't touching the ground.

I raised my eyebrows, "I was not aware that you had the ability to fly."

"Really?" she offered a sly smile, "I'd think the great L would be able to figure it out for himself. I'm almost disappointed you didn't notice earlier."

It did make sense. The shinigami hardly ever walked anywhere, why would Ellie not have the same capability? They weren't all that different. I chewed on my thumbnail, "This will be useful," I said to myself.

"Are you gonna teach me or not?" Ellie asked jokingly.

"Yes," I said, "But I need you to refrain from doing anything a human wouldn't be able to do. The majority of the scenarios in which your fighting would be used require keeping your identity a secret. Otherwise, knowing martial arts is futile. It's not like a person could genuinely hurt you, any weapons would go right through. But, if who you truly are is revealed, who do you expect will be the first that our enemies target?"

She thought for a moment, then it suddenly dawned on her. Ellie's eyes widened as she looked toward our son, playing with his spider-toy. "Nate…" she whispered.

"Yes," I confirmed darkly, "Him. So, are you going to learn, or are you going to show off?"

She frowned, a determined look on her face. I now had her full attention.

Every afternoon, for two hours, I taught her the complex art of capoeira. Since her physical body was and always would be in perfect condition – not complaining – it meant we didn't need to spend time on exercises and could instead work on memorizing the technique. She was good at it, but she was clearly pulling her punches. She still didn't have enough motivation to give her all to take own the opponent.

"You're not even using a tenth of your full power," I accused, sparring with her.

She continued to move on the defensive, "That's the thing about gods of life. We aren't fans of hurting people. It's not to say we can't, but for the most part we're not particularly fond of it either."

I decided to provoke her into it. I began by taunting, criticizing her technique. Then, when that wasn't enough, I brought Nate into it, "If you keep this up, then when the time comes for you to take someone down, Nate will be as good as dead."

That worked. Note to self: When needing to strike a chord with my wife, use our son. Ellie glared, her slight glow turning a frightening shade of red. She rushed forward and punched me in the stomach, sending me flying across the room. I landed a few feet away from Nate, who was sucking his thumb. I bonked my head on the floor.

"Ouch," I said, "You know, that really hurt." If she had that much strength, why did she refuse to use it?

Her glow intensified, still a dark red, "Never talk about my son that way," she warned menacingly, "This lesson is done for today, I'm going upstairs." She walked over to our baby and picked him up, making sure to grab his favorite toy. She handed him the stuffed spider and he clung onto her neck, letting her carry him out the door.

When she was gone, I lifted my shirt to reveal a fist-sized bruise in the center of my torso. The back of my head felt wet, so I reached back to inspect it; When I brought my fingers back in front of me, I found that I was bleeding. I decided to have the doctor patch it up, but made him promise not to tell Ellie, she'd beat herself up about it and I wanted her to be proud of what she'd done. If she started feeling bad, all the progress she made today would regress.

"Well," Kaneko said, inspecting the back of my head, "It's hard to see under all this hair, but looks like she got you good. You're gonna need stitches." He smiled slightly, "Got beat up by literally one of the gentlest creatures in the universe. You must've really egged her on. What'd you say?"

I chewed on my nail while he stitched me up, "I told her if she doesn't get serious then Nate would be the one to get hurt." Kaneko yanked on my hair. "Ow," I complained, "What was that for?"

"For a genius, you're such an idiot," he said, "Everyone knows you never threaten a mother's child! It's like buying a one-way ticket to her black list. You're damn lucky she loves the hell out of you, because if she didn't, you'd probably be dead on the floor, especially with her strength and power."

"No," I commented, "Just as gods of death are forbidden to save lives, Ellie has already told me that gods of life are forbidden to take them. If she kills a human, she too will die just like Rem did when she murdered me. It's a most inconvenient law when it comes to our end goal."

"I see," He said, "but she can obviously beat you up like hell," he snipped a thread, "All done. But no more Capoeira until the stitches are out, otherwise it might open back up. Now let me see that bruise." He inspected my torso, but didn't do anything other than poke at it.

Just for fun, I wondered aloud, "How long have you been in love with my wife?"

Kaneko froze, slowly standing up, "You're mistaken," He didn't look me in the eyes, "I don't think of her as anything more than a friend and ex-patient."

He was obviously lying. I'd noticed his body language around her every time she was in the room. He always subconsciously faced her, he'd smile when she spoke, and he teased her significantly more often than anyone else. There was no doubt; the doctor was suffering from a severe case of Florence Nightingale Syndrome. "No point trying to deny it," I said casually, "I've known for a while. In fact, I'm 87% certain that the only one in this building who doesn't know is Ellie herself."

His face turned a humiliated shade of red, "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes," I confirmed, "The only reason I haven't said anything is because I know that you care enough about her happiness not to try anything. Although if you did, it may be quite entertaining to watch."

He glowered, "You can be quite the asshole, can't you?" With that, he stormed out, leaving me to my own devices. That's two people mad at me today. I was on a roll. I was far from my record of several million at once, but it was still 40% of the total adult population that knew of my existence.

I made my way up to the control room. There was work that needed to be done.


	32. A Strawberry's Purpose

Let's all have a moment of silence for the three loaves of bread I forgot at my parents' house. I was so looking forward to a good sandwich… I guess I'll have to make some more from scratch, but it won't be as good as the stuff from the bakery.

Shout-out to **LadyHawke361** , because you have the same username as my mother. When you started following _fictionaL dimensions_ I nearly had a heart attack, it scared me so bad. I asked my mom how she could possibly find my story, but apparently, you're not her. She hasn't even seen Death Note, poor woman. Thank goodness though, since it would have gotten weird if anyone I knew read this.

* * *

A Chocolate-Covered Strawberry's P.O.V.

My leaves tickled as an old man named Watari held them to dip me in a warm brown liquid. It covered me like a blanket, hardening to become my new outfit. He placed me with my brothers and sisters on a plate, stacking us one on top of the other. Some dude in a lab coat tried to pick me up, but Watari slapped his hand away, saying I was for someone named L.

When all my fellow strawberries had been properly dressed, the man picked our tray up and put it on a kart covered in other trays of goodies. I said hello and they all greeted me back like the sweet things they were.

We were rolled into a room full of screens. A man was sitting in a chair chewing on his nail. I thought that was silly, a nail couldn't taste as delicious as any of my friends or siblings. When he saw us in all our delicious glory, he reached over and chose one of the brownies, eating it methodically while staring at all the monitors. This must be L.

"Anon Terces," he said, speaking into a metal stick, "please offer the nice apple lady a large tip today. She looks particularly stressed. By the state of her coat, she hasn't had much business lately."

"Still got a soft spot for her, huh?" The man in the lab coat from earlier asked.

"Yes," L confirmed, "She made a truly splendid pie and I feel I must thank her for it."

Aw, yes, pie, that's something I can get behind. Of course, apples are alright, but strawberries are obviously the best fruit. Unlike apples, we don't have cyanide in our seeds. The apple lady could probably get more business if she made the switch and sold us instead. Poor lady, she doesn't know what's good for her.

A pretty woman with shining skin grabbed one of my sisters and took a bite. Goodbye, dear sister, you get to fulfil your purpose. I was a little jealous. If only I'd been placed on the top of the stack, maybe I'd have gotten to go first. The shiny woman spoke, "I'm still annoyed you didn't share. You ate it while I was asleep."

"You snooze you lose," the man in the lab coat said, "as they saying goes."

"Shut up, Yori, it's not like you got any either," she pouted.

"As you wish your highness," he retorted.

L smiled, but it was so subtle that only the sweets on the tray would have been able to notice it, "At it again I see," he finished his brownie and reached for a cookie, "You are relentless Doctor Kaneko."

The man called Yori leaned in to whisper urgently in L's ear, "Leave me alone, will you? If you keep making comments like this she's gonna get suspicious, for God's sake, have a heart."

He could have a strawberry; Strawberries looked like hearts, right? To my delight, L grabbed one and held them up, dropping my brother into his mouth from above, "Hush now, doctor," he talked with his mouth full, "she could have heightened hearing. You don't know," he muttered back.

"What was that," the shiny woman asked, looking up from my half-eaten sister, "are you two conspiring about something?"

"No, of course not," L said, feigning innocence

She scoffed, "Yeah right," but finished her strawberry and dropped the subject, reaching down for another one. My brother commented on her soft hands. Of course, she didn't hear him since we are strawberries and cannot speak aloud.

"You know, L," the doctor stood up, "I really ought to test you for diabetes. Unlike Ellie, you're still a human. If you eat that much sugar, you'll die of a heart attack, and it won't be because of the death note."

"He doesn't have diabetes," the shiny woman named Ellie said.

Yori raised his eyebrow, "Oh? And how can you be so sure."

"The same way I'm sure you've got a headache right now. I just know," she explained. "Speaking of," She reached up and placed two fingers against Yori's temple, "Here, does that feel better?" after a second, she put her hand down.

"Looks like the tables have turned," A different person sitting on a couch said. They sounded and looked like a man, but he was wearing a dress and sat on his hip like a princess. "The patient cures the doctor."

"If you can sense injuries," L asked, "Then why did you say and do nothing about my stitches and bruise?" He reached behind his head, under his hair.

"Because," She lifted her chin, "You deserved them. Those will have to heal on their own, I'm not going to do anything about it. It's what you get for threatening our son and egging me on."

"I didn't threaten Nate, I merely told you what could happen if you refused to learn Capoeira."

L's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up to his hear in the weirdest way. None of the other humans I've seen ever did that. Maybe L had special needs. If that was the case, strawberries could only help; He should forget the cookies and start munching on us!

"Hello," he asked, "What is it? – I see. – Very good. When she goes out, place surveillance cameras and wire taps all through her apartment and hidden in her clothes. – No, do not engage, we need to see what we can find out first. – Yes. Goodbye." He pressed a button, making the phone beep and put it back in his pocket, "Misa has been located."

"I guess you were right again, oh-so-great-detective," The man in the dress said, "Misa is the third person."

"Makes sense," Ellie said, "after all, she's got the shinigami eyes. Plus, Kira knows for certain that she's more loyal to him than anyone else. Anyone other person would be too risky."

"We know who she is," Yori said, "Can't we just catch her like we caught that crazy-ass 'prophet' Mikami?"

"If she's arrested without having done anything, then it would be telling Kira that we're on to him," Ellie explained, "With Mikami, we had a good reason. The kidnapping, torture, and attempted murder of an innocent woman was illegal no matter who you are. Therefore, it made sense when we locked him up. We don't have anything concrete on Misa, so arresting or confronting her directly is a bad idea."

I wondered who these people were. Mikami sounded mean. I'm sure he'd be a lot nicer if he'd had more strawberries in his life. I bet if he got the really nice ones dressed in chocolate, he'd be happier. The shiny woman named Ellie obviously ate strawberries, so it just goes to show that we are worth it. She picked the one next to me up, putting it in her mouth. I was the only one left. The plate was cold and lonely, being left behind.

"Actually," L said, biting his thumb again. Did he taste that good? "Confronting her is exactly what I plan to do."

Ellie finally picked me up, "And how exactly are we going to do that?" She ate me in one bite, and the world went black. Finally, I had fulfilled my purpose.


	33. Operation Lucifer

Our beloved chocolate-covered strawberry will be missed. I'm sure he was delicious.

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

"Hi, Mom and Dad," I smiled and waved to the webcam, reigning in as much light as I possibly could. It took a lot of concentration to appear normal, but I think I got it well enough. If I slip up, I'll just blame it on the camera. The brown contacts were annoying, but thank goodness Weston had them. I almost forgot about my eyes and my human parents definitely would have noticed the change in color. I still hated lying to them, but it was for their own good. Once everything was over, I'd explain all of it and I could stop dancing in circles every time I call them.

"Hi, sweetie, how have you been?" My mother greeted with a smile, "You haven't called since our grandson started kicking. I want to see him!"

I laughed, reaching down to the floor where Nate was sitting and lifted him onto my lap. "Say hi," I lifted his arm to wave at my mother, "That's your grandma and grandpa." Nate responded by sticking his spider toy in his mouth.

Mom gasped, "Oh wow, he's gorgeous…"

My dad looked him over, "where did he get those eyes?"

I shrugged, "Couldn't tell ya." It wasn't a lie. I literally can't tell them. "They're cool though, huh? Oi! Lawrence," I called out, "come say hi to your in-laws."

L looked up from his bowl of ice cream, "Why?"

I rolled my eyes, "Oh for heaven's sake, put the mint chocolate chip down, and get over here," I demanded.

He didn't put the ice cream down, but at least he joined our skype session. "Hello." He said shortly, returning his attention to the large bowl of sugar in front of him, holding the spoon with two fingers like the wonderful oddball he is.

"Hi there, Lawrence. How've you been treating our daughter?" My dad asked.

He took another bite of ice cream, clearly uninterested in this conversation.

I took the reins, "He spoils me rotten," I joked, "When he's not working, his attention is on me or Nate." I tickled my son's sides, making him giggle and squirm.

"Well that's good," My mother commented, "Otherwise I'd have to slap some sense into him."

That'd be an entertaining encounter. I imagined my mom, going into her fiery mamma-bear mode, telling L off while he stared blankly at her. I briefly wondered how he'd react if she tried slapping him. Not that it would matter; I wouldn't let them wage war on each other even if they wanted to.

"So, mom, where are the girls," I referenced my two little sisters, "I haven't heard from them lately."

"They'll be home from school any minute now," She explained, "But I still feel bad making you get up so early. What time is it there?"

"It's about 5:30 in the morning. But it's okay, we're usually up by now anyway."

My dad raised his eyebrows, "Really? I thought you hated mornings. You were always late to school because of it."

Perhaps I used to, but I don't sleep anymore. "I kinda like the mornings here," I told her instead, "they're different. More energetic."

"Hold on," my mother stopped me, "if it's 5 am, then why is the baby up? Shouldn't he be in bed at this hour?"

"He was being fussy," L mumbled coolly, his mouth full of ice cream, "so we decided he could stay up to see you. He'll be put back to sleep when we're done."

"And there will be absolutely no chloroform involved at all," I joked, "Nope, none at all." I darted my eyes side to side comically for dramatic effect.

My mom laughed, "That's one way to get a baby to calm down. I wish I'd thought of that when you and your brother were babies, it would have saved me a lot of time and energy."

"Because that's not sketchy at all," my dad said sarcastically.

"No need to be so serious," L commented. I smiled at his humor. I adore this pale sweet-toothed man.

I heard a door open from their end followed by the voices of two arguing girls, one of them accusing the other of 'being mean.'

"Hey, girls, Ellie is on skype, com say hi," My mother ignored their fighting.

The younger one, Andrea, moved in front of the screen and waved, "Hi Ellie! Is that my niece?"

"Nephew," I corrected, "And yes, he is."

The older one with the red hair joined us. She was obviously grumpy, "Who is that?" she pouted.

We talked about life and such for a while. My dad told me about the newest update on the MMO we liked to play. I hadn't had much time for it lately, but he was still a die-hard fan. My mom talked about the latest episode of Doctor Who and my little sisters each fangirled about the latest books they've read.

I love my nerdy human family.

Our conversation was cut short when L received a phone call. He pulled it out of his pocked and hung it from his thumb and forefinger beside his ear, "Yes? – I see. – No, don't do anything. – That's correct. – If you do that it will ruin the whole operation, say nothing, do nothing. Watch and wait, that is your assignment. – There's no need to get upset. – If you wish to conduct your own independent investigation then do so. – No? Then do as I instruct. – Yes. – Goodbye." He put his phone back in his pocket and leaned down, "I'm afraid something has come up, we will speak with you later."

"Oh, okay. Well, goodbye then. I love-" My mom got cut off as L closed my laptop.

"That was rude," I said, "You could have at least let her finish her sentence."

"No time," L said picking our son up and placing him back in his crib, "Teru Mikami just escaped from prison, and Misa Amane has contacted him. She's keeping him in her apartment."

"That's important and all, but I don't see why it couldn't have waited five more seconds."

"Let's go," He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the control room.

I sent my mom an apology text, " _Sorry, Lawrence just got a major work thing pop up. It's time-sensitive, and it requires both of us, so… That's a thing._ " I pressed send and left it at that. "So," I asked, "What's the plan?"

He typed something on one of the keyboards, "You are."

"Care to elaborate?"

"You are going to stroll right up to them."

I'd ask him if he was crazy, but I already know that he is; At least a little bit. "How could that possibly help? What would I even do?"

"You'll float through the wall in full glow, then dim down just enough for Mikami to see your face," He handed me an earpiece and I put it on, "I'll instruct you from there." He pushed the button to his microphone, "can you hear me?"

His voice came from him as well as the little device. I nodded, "yeah, loud and clear. Should I get the others?"

"Get us for what?" Mr. Yagami appeared in the doorway, "did something happen?"

"Yes. Yagami, please fetch Watari, Yori, and Weston. I will explain when everyone is here."

I took my contacts out and tidied up my hair. I was going to put on a show, after all. I must look my best. Straightening my white dress, I headed out, flying like a rocket to Misa's house. I didn't bother hiding; no one can see me unless I touch them. The only reason everyone could see me in the hospital room was because my actual father had already given the ability to do so. They were special that way. In order for my human family to see me, I had to fly all the way home and sneak into their rooms while they slept.

Misa and Teru did not have the ability to see me quite yet. L had needed me to set up hidden cameras and wire taps all through her building while I was still invisible. It took forever, but it had paid off in the past few weeks. After they can see me, there'll be no hiding from them again, but I suppose I don't need to anymore.

L's scrambled voice sounded in my ear, "Are you there yet?"

"Just about." I came up to a cheap-looking apartment complex. Inside were two of the world's craziest serial killers. I peeked in to see Misa sitting on a chair, writing names. Teru stood in the corner, changing out of his prison garb. I melted under the floor until just my hand was sticking out. I used it to touch their ankles, giving them the ability to see and hear me.

Taking a deep breath, I let my shine turn red. Usually it only does that when I'm super mad, but if I concentrate I can do it manually. If I wanted Mikami to continue thinking I was the devil, I had to pull out all the stops. Glowing red would only support our little demonic lie.

I released all my light; It was like taking my socks off after a long day. I hadn't noticed how uncomfortable keeping it in was making me. Everyone else said it was blinding, but I could see just fine; What's wrong with a little light? (Unless that Light happens to be a psychopathic mass-murderer, but that's a separate circumstance.)

"Ready?" I heard in my ear.

The cameras would only be able to see a bright red spot, so I had to whisper aloud, "Yep. Operation Lucifer is a go."

"Operation Lucifer? Is that what we're calling it?" I could hear the sarcasm even through the scrambler.

"Yes. I'm going in."

"Make us proud."

I took another breath, then began slowly ascending through the floor.

The curtain rises…


	34. Uninvited Guests

I can feel my mind and soul slowly coming undone as I fall deeper into the void of insanity.

In other words, it's finals week. And instead of studying, I wrote this chapter for you.

Read and review, my lovelies! I love hearing what you think.

* * *

Teru Mikami's P.O.V.

Misa Amane is an idiot. She won't shut up, yammering on about the most superficial and pointless things. It's not my place to question God, but I can't imagine why he would have chosen this woman to serve with us when there were so many others who would happily do all that he asks. Especially now that I was free; I can at last track down that evil woman and delete her once and for all. Once I have, God will forgive me for getting caught, and I can be his hand once again.

Escaping prison was easier than I expected. This was due mostly to the unexpected help which I'd received. I never saaw my rescuer's face, but when I asked him why he was freeing me he said, "Because it'll be fun." He smelled like blood. Everything about his presence put me on edge.

When I was out of the prison gates, he disappeared. I never saw where he went.

I contacted Miss Amane. I had been working with her – or more like babysitting to prevent her from doing anything stupid – since we both ended up in this world. She arrived in a vehicle to pick me up and took me to the dingy apartment she'd been living in. Her constant complaining about the place was enough to make my eyes twitch; it wasn't my fault she couldn't get a job here. If she went into modeling again, she'd be too high-profile. Unfortunately for her, she was too stupid to do anything else.

"Ewwwwww!" She exclaimed melodramatically, "There are so many of these squishy white things. What even are they?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed, "I'm not even surprised anymore at how intensely idiotic you are. Everyone knows those are egg sacks."

"Egg sacks?" She jumped back nursing the finger that had been poking one as if she had been burned, "For what?"

"Probably a spider," I said, stepping past her to the corner of the room where a pile of clean clothes were set on the bed.

I may as well have told her that her face was melting off, because she looked horrified. "WHAAAAT!?"

Honestly, did she not know how to calm down? "Shut up and write," I ordered, "Forget about the spiders, there are probably already plenty here already, and you haven't died yet, have you?"

She squeaked, "Gross, stop it, you're giving me the creepy-crawlies!"

I rolled my eyes, "Just do it, unless you want God to be angry with you."

That got her to work. She nodded, "I don't want Light to get upset," she switched on the computer and began to write. I turned around to change, unzipping the uncomfortable prison uniform. Misa had provided a Moth-eaten suit. Normally, I preferred clean-pressed clothes, but it was better than nothing. I'd get something better soon.

Something brushed against my ankle. I looked down, but it was gone before I saw anything. I shrugged. Probably just one of the spiders. The whole building was likely infested. This place was truly disgusting.

I finished putting on my clothes and folded my old prison uniform to hide until I could properly dispose of it. When I knelt down to stuff it under Misa's bed, I looked over to see something coming through the floor. It was blindingly bright, and filled the room with a menacing red light. "God," I asked, shielding my eyes, "is that you?"

Dark, feminine laughter came from the bright figure as it rose to hover above the ground in the center of the room, "No, Teru Mikami, I am not the one you call God. I am much more than that."

I gasped, startled that this person knew my name. But there was something familiar about her voice…

Misa also covered her eyes, "Who are you?" She demanded, "Another shinigami?"

"Wrong again, Misa Amane. I'm far worse," The light subsided enough for me to look into our intruder's face. My eyes widened; I knew her face.

"Lucifer…" My voice barely obeyed my commanded as I felt my throat begin to close.

"That's right," She grinned, "I'm all better now." She lifted her arm, running her fingers across the skin. Her scars were gone. Any human being would have had those marks for life.

Misa looked up, confused, "Huh?"

I glared at her. How is it possible for someone to be so dense?

"Hush, little girl," Lucifer said, "The grown-ups are talking." She waved her hand, dismissing Misa.

That annoyed her to no end, "Hey!" She yelled, standing up from her chair, "I'm not some kid! Just who do you think you are?"

This temper tantrum seemed to amuse the demon. "Oh, me?" She asked, "No one of consequence. For now, at least," she warned, "But cross me and you will regret it." She set her feet on the ground and dimmed her redness to no more than a faint aura, "Besides, I'm merely here to relay a message."

"And what would that be," I glowered, standing up from the floor. I couldn't let her see any sign of fear coming from me. I must remain in control.

"Now, now, no need to be so hostile," the red got deeper and her voice turned menacing, "Else I get angry."

Misa whimpered slightly. I didn't blame her this time; Lucifer was a frightening figure.

She gave a cold smile, "Tell Light Yagami that I am coming for him."

My resolve broke slightly, but I quickly recovered, hardening my features. If I was to prove myself once again to God that I was worthy of him, my faith must not falter. After all, my mission is to kill this woman. Preferably sooner rather than later. I slowly started circling the room toward the bedside table. Misa kept a knife in there for self-defense. If I could get to it, then I can try to land a fatal hit.

In an effort to distract my enemy, I decided to stall her, "What do you intend to do to God?"

"That's nothing you need to be concerned with," She said in an annoyingly condescending tone, "Just give him the message, like a good boy."

"And if I don't?" Just a few more steps… Then she would finally be deleted once and for all.

"If you don't, then I'll have no more reason not to drag you down to my beautiful kingdom. There's a delightful little art museum, where the most painful torture techniques are demonstrated." She sounded way too happy about that, "I think you'd make a lovely new specimen to add to my collection." She played with her bottom lip as if she were thinking, "Since you're so fond of fire pokers, I'll make sure to implement them in the exhibit you take part in. Maybe you can have a special display all to yourself. I only give that honor to the special ones, you know."

I had no intention of being taken to hell. Unfortunately, until she was dead, God would give no help to me, so if she did decide to take my soul I would have no means of stopping her.

"I suppose," I said, opening the drawer behind my back, "That I have no choice but to give him your message."

"You've made a wise decision," Lucifer walked forward to grab my chin in her fingers. "Pity," She said, looking me over, "You'd have made an exquisite exhibit."

I grabbed the knife handle and thrust it directly into her heart, expecting to hear her familiar scream of pain. However, she didn't react much at all. In fact, she started laughing, letting go of my face, "Wrong move, human." With that, she melted into the floor, leaving behind the echoes of her cruel laughter. I examined the blade; There wasn't even a single drop of blood on it…

Misa screamed in terror. I looked up to see what she could be going on about, and dropped the knife in shock. Every single one of the egg sacks were hatching at once. Thousands of tiny wolf spiders were scuttling across every surface. Misa stomped, but looked more like she was trying to dance on hot coals as she futilely attempted to avoid them.

Some rained down from the ceiling, some crawled up my legs, and some were starting to grow. Like, _really_ grow. These were newborns, but several were already full size, which was horrifying because wolf spiders are among the largest arachnids in the world. I tried to brush off the hundreds of creatures crawling all over me, but they were everywhere.

"We're gonna die!" Misa squealed, "they're gonna bite me!"

"Wolf spiders aren't poisonous," I explained, "But that being said, get out!" I bolted for the door, not bothering to check if Misa was following me. I couldn't care less about her. One of the smaller ones tried to crawl in my ear.

This must be Lucifer's doing. She'll die for this!

The other tenants in the apartment were starting to notice, although their rooms had obviously not been as badly affected. Still, they ran out in a panic.

When I got outside, I tripped over something. Without bothering to get up, I stripped off the clothes that I had just put on while I was still out on the street. Misa followed suit, screaming as she shook the huge spiders out of her clothes.

When I was fairly certain that I'd gotten all of them off, I looked down to see what I'd tripped on: It was an empty jam jar. What idiot would put that in front of a doorway?

I stood up, looking down at the spiders as they scuttled away. One had gotten hurt, probably when I fell. I lifted my foot, crushing the disgusting creature under my shoe.

This means war.


	35. Jars

A note to the guest reviewer **Kuma** : Oh no! Not the bear… (What bear?) I guess I'll just have to leave this little chapter here; I don't want to end up eaten.

Another shout-out to **Sano Sauro** , because they're helping me brainstorm wonderful ideas for how to make my originally-planned plot line even better than it was before. You rule good sir.

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

Mikami tried to stab me. I couldn't help but laugh. If he wanted to play dirty, then so could I. There were hundreds of spider egg sacks all around this place. Wolf spiders weren't venomous, but they were still pretty darn terrifying.

Once I'd sunk through the floor, I concentrated my energy on all the eggs, speeding up their growth. I heard Misa scream. I couldn't help but grin sadistically; I've never liked Misa Amane.

But baby spiders alone wouldn't do, so I decided to help a few along, growing a good number of them to their full size. I heard L's scrambled voice in my ear, "Their room is swarming with spiders, is this your doing?"

"You wanted me to put on a show," I confirmed, "so here we are. Plus, as I'm sure you saw, Mikami stabbed me again. That, and Misa was literally killing people. I don't feel bad."

"I was not aware you had that kind of ability."

"Gods of death can only take lives; there's not a lot one can do with that. Gods of life, however, can give it, which means our abilities are far more malleable. Hatching and growing spiders is not particularly difficult."

"How interesting," he said, "That is useful. Well, since you are done, please return. Travel underground, so they don't see where you're headed."

I did, but it was super uncomfortable. I hated how suffocating traveling through miles of dirt and concrete was. It was quite a relief when I arrived at the tower. L was waiting on the top floor, "Welcome home, Ellie," he was eating cake.

"I wasn't gone long, but it still felt like I was in there for hours," I took a fork and picked off his plate, "I'm confused as to why you wanted me to give that message to Mikami. I thought we wanted our presence to remain a secret."

"We want my presence to remain a secret, yes, as well as Mr. Yagami's and Watari's. However, Light cannot kill _you_ , so we'll use that to our advantage."

We were interrupted by Mr. Yagami, yelling into a cell phone, "What? Who could possibly have done that? – I don't care how, but find out who it was immediately!" He hung up angrily, "Unbelievable."

"Are you quite alright, Mr. Yagami?" L took another bite of cake.

"Someone helped Mikami escape."

"Really," L sounded interested, "Now that's intriguing."

"It couldn't have been Misa," I said, "She's not clever enough to pull off a prison break. But Light was the only other person associated with Kira, unless the shinigami king was lying."

"No, I have a feeling the shinigami king was telling the truth. He hasn't moved anywhere since, so we know he hasn't brought anyone new. Unless…" He looked at me with his dark, hypnotizing eyes, "Is it possible for a shinigami to bring someone through dimensions without personally escorting them?"

I shook my head, "No. Even my father had to take you here by hand, that's why your memories after death were erased. He didn't want to risk my discovering who I am before it was time. Otherwise, you'd remember everything just like Mikami does."

"In that case," L thought aloud, "there must be a rogue shinigami."

"A rogue shinigami?" I asked.

"Yes. One of them must have brought someone new here."

"But why," Weston asked from his nest on the couch, "What could they possibly have to gain?"

"Entertainment," Yori said, "A lot of them are complaining about getting bored again."

"Exactly," L agreed, "This new person is a wild card. We don't know who he is or what he wants, so he could do anything."

"So what do we do," I asked, "Should we check the security cameras?"

L took another bite of cake, "They won't reveal anything. If this new person can break a high-security prisoner out of jail, they are more than capable of evading a few security cameras."

"It's got to be someone loyal to Kira," Weston theorized, "Otherwise, why break Mikami out of all people? He hadn't said anything to link him with Kira, and we didn't either."

It's true that we never told the Japanese police of Mikami's true identity. L thought it was best if they remained on a strictly need-to-know basis. Since he was already incarcerated for my torture, his association with Kira was not vital for getting him out of the picture. I'm sure they'll have their suspicions though, now that he's contacted Misa. We've already told them that she's a person of interest in the Kira case; it won't take long for them to make the connection.

L finished his cake, then proceeded to bite his thumb, "I do not think our new person has any devotion or specific link to Kira himself. However, it is likely that he has an interest in him."

The – excessively high-tech – baby monitor indicated that Nate was waking up. He started to cry.

"I'll take care of that," I said, "You focus on figuring out who Mikami's rescuer is."

"I'll go with you," Yori volunteered.

I walked with Yori back to the nursery. Nate was screaming. I reached down to pick him up, "Hey, it's okay, Mommy's here." His eyes were wet as he clutched to my neck. "What the matter, huh?" I smelled his diaper; it was rank, "Oh, goodness, you're stinky, aren't you?"

"Here," Yori took him, "I'll change him. Go grab a diaper and the wipes." He placed my son on the changing table, giving him a wide smile, "Hey there, kid," his voice was always gentle when talking to my baby, "It's been almost a whole day since you got to see your favorite uncle, huh?" He tickled Nate's tummy, making the infant giggle.

I smiled at the sight. I'd always just sort of assumed he hated children, mostly because of his overly-sarcastic attitude. But, he genuinely loved Nate. He spoiled my son rotten with attention every chance he got. When Weston wasn't smothering my child with affections, Yori was. They practically took shifts.

I handed my friend the wipes and a fresh diaper so he could perform the most dreaded task appointed to those caring for infants. I had to take a step back, just because of the smell, "Oh, geez, how can you stand it?" I asked, "You hardly even react. Were you raised in a junkyard or something?"

He pretended to ignore me, instead talking to Nate, "Your mamma's too squeamish to handle thirty seconds of stink, and too stupid to just plug her nose. How could a smart little boy like you possibly be related?"

Nate gurgled in response.

"Oh?" Yori pretended to understand what he was saying, "Is that so?" He look behind his shoulder at me, looking me over. "Yes, I think you're right." He turned back to Nate, tying the new diaper around him, "Becoming a goddess made her go soft. Beforehand she'd have just gotten over it and dealt with the smell."

I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow with my lips pursed, "Uh-huh. Right. In that case, I won't do anything the next time you get a migraine. If I hear one complaint out of you, I'll assume you've 'gone soft.'"

"Ooooh, your mommy got mad at me," He whispered, tickling Nate again, making him giggle and squirm.

"Alright, 'Favorite Uncle,' my turn," I picked my son off the changing table and decided to bring him to the control room with us. It was about time for him to wake up anyway. I looked at my now-smiling child, talking excitedly, "Wanna go see Daddy?"

He made a delighted noise. He was smart enough to know what 'daddy' meant. I wouldn't be surprised if he started talking soon. He's still young, but since he's quite literally a demigod with a mad genius as a father, his mental development could easily proceed more rapidly than normal. I grabbed his spider-toy and handed it to him, letting him chew on one of the legs.

Yori followed as I made my way back to the control room, probably making faces behind my back judging from Nate's laughs. When we arrived, L was staring intently at one of the monitors. It showed a news station. They were speaking Japanese, but I could see that they were outside the Tokyo police department.

"What is it," I asked, balancing Nate on my hip.

"Someone has sent the police several very unpleasant packages," L explained, playing with his bottom lip. He glanced over his shoulder at us. When he spotted Nate, he stood up, taking our son and placing him on his shoulders. Nate squealed in delight; he loved when L did this.

I looked at Yori, who was staring open-mouthed at the monitor, obviously disgusted. "What is it," I asked, "What are they saying?"

"Whoever it was," Mr. Yagami spoke up, "sent several separate packages. Inside each one was a jam jar. Only there was no jam."

"Why? What was in them?" I asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.

L looked up, casually playing with our son like his next sentence didn't belong in a horror film, "Inside each jar was a severed human body part. All of them were unique, and all of them were from different people. One had an eye, one had a finger, one had a necklace made of teeth, and so on. There were 30 in total."

"Gross," I commented, "But why do you care? Does it have something to do with Kira?" I was certainly intrigued, but L only ever took on one case at a time, and even then, they were only ones he was genuinely interested in. He'd ignored plenty of horrific crimes beforehand.

"They all arrived just before Mikami escaped from prison. None of the pieces are any more than a week old. This leads me to believe that the person who sent the jars and the person who broke Mikami out are one and the same. The timing is too perfect to be a coincidence. I've instructed the police to pay close attention to any missing person reports over the next few days."

Nate grabbed L's finger. I may have mentioned a few times that L was sexy when he was thinking, but it was _nothing_ compared to when he was both thinking, AND playing with a baby. Something about a man being good with kids just makes women go crazy, and I am no exception to this rule. In other words: my husband is freaking hot.

L continued, "This new piece in our game only came into play recently. The jars are their way of getting our attention. It's a direct challenge. 'Catch me if you can,' they're saying."

"Okay. So, they have our attention," Yori said, "What do we do about it?"

"Well," L responded, freeing his finger to playfully poke at Nate's pale nose, "we'll simply have to bring them to justice. As long as this killer roams free, anything could happen. It's clear from everything they've done so far, that they are capable of truly despicable acts. They cannot be allowed to roam free."

"Where do we start?" Weston asked.

A slow grin spread across Yori's face, "I have an idea…"

* * *

I'm starting to think that maybe Yori is a mad genius too…

It took almost three weeks to get everything ready. We had to buy out an entire company – the same one who produced the jam whose jars were used by our killer – and print a message on each new jar. We made it into a riddle of sorts, so that it would be obvious to the killer, but virtually meaningless to anyone else.

"Have it say this in multiple languages," Yori told us, "30 red presents, each its own flavor, were picked up by the people in blue. To the one who gave the gift, allow us to thank you. Say when and where, and we'll give you even more of the thing you crave."

"Crave?" I asked, "We don't know that they crave jam. The killer might not even like it; they could have just used the jars because it was the only thing they had. What if he doesn't contact us?"

"No," L said, "The jam jars were their hint to us. A single clue, trying to give us just enough of a foothold to chase, but not catch them. They're trying to rope us into a game of cat and mouse. I have no doubt that they will contact the police with instructions of some sort."

An announcement was aired, claiming that the company was offering to give out their – which I guess is now our – brand of jam free for a single day to promote the product. It was an easily believable lie. Naturally, people flocked to grocery stores to pick up a jar. If our perp really was fond of jam, then they're almost certain to jump at the opportunity to get some for free.

It was a pricey venture, but even I didn't have any idea how deep my husband's pockets went. All he ever told me when I'd ask was that money was no object. I suppose there was enough to give out free jam to millions of people, because he didn't hesitate to carry out Yori's plan.

The day came and went, and over 22 million jars were handed out. Hopefully our killer got one, because otherwise the entire past month will have been futile. We waited, watching for any sign of a response.

Finally, after three days, there was a note… Kind of.


	36. Footsteps

It's chapters like these that make this story rated T. If you have a squeamish stomach, you may want to look away.

Thanks for being patient with me. A lot has been going on the past few days, so I haven't had any time to write. (I had finals, AND I got asked on a date. Do you know how rarely I'm asked out? Try once in a blue moon. Turns out, we hit it off. So yay!) Anyway, here's your long-awaited chapter. Read and review, because things are happening.

* * *

Yori Kaneko's P.O.V.

Whoever this person was, they were genuinely sick. The 'note' they sent in response to my jam jars was not written on paper. It was written on human skin. They'd stretched it over a wooden frame like a canvas. Fortunately, we did get one clue: this person spoke English.

It said, " _Follow the footsteps_ ," written in elegant calligraphy. He'd used blood as if it was nothing more than paint.

"Footsteps?" Ellie questioned, feeding a spoonful of baby food into Nate's mouth, "What could that mean?"

"Something tells me we'll find out, and I'm note entirely sure we want to," Weston said weakly. He'd gone pale. Ever since our wild card – who police have dubbed 'The Fragmenting Killer' – showed up, Ellie's favorite drag queen has been jumpy. He's been so out of it, that he hasn't even harassed me in over a week. He looks worse with every passing day. The only time he smiles anymore is when he's playing with Nate, but the moment the infant is taken away, his face falls again.

"Weston, sweetie, you don't have to be here if you don't want to. Why don't you go get some air?" Ellie gave him a pitying look.

He shook his head, "No, I'm fine."

"Honey, you're nauseous. Quick, before you puke all over the place."

Weston opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind. He deflated, nodding, "Okay." With that, he walked out. The familiar spring in his step was completely gone. As much as it pains me to admit it, I felt bad for the guy.

Nate – precious little Nate – was blissfully unaware of the true magnitude of the situation. For all he knew, his mommy was feeding him while talking to the other members of his 'family' about completely normal things. He happily looked around with curious eyes, his raven hair sticking out at odd angles. I liked kids well enough, but there was something about Nate Lawliet that made you love him. It may or may not be a side effect of being a demigod of life.

I adjusted my glasses back into their proper place, "So, we got our response. What's our next course of action?"

"Forensics are still analyzing the packages," L said, "I'll send a search party out to find anything suspicious. When we do, we'll go from there."

As if on cue, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up to his ear. It always weirded me out how he held things. Calling him eccentric would not be a stretch. "Hello," he said, "This is L. – I see. – Please send me pictures of all of them. – I understand, send them anyway. – No, wait for my instruction. – Yes, goodbye." He hung up, and placed his hands back on his knees. "It appears our wild card was making a joke. 'follow the footsteps' was nothing more than a deranged pun. In actuality, they meant the severed feet they had laid out in a trail near a park."

Ellie scrunched her nose, "How many are there?" She fed Nate another mouthful.

How many? That's the first question she has? I think L is rubbing off on her.

"The total number has not yet been counted," L answered, "But it is expected to be relatively high. And with the increased number of missing person's cases, citizens are beginning to panic. Many are praying for Kira to find and punish whoever is doing this."

"It could be more than one person," I suggested, "Maybe this is some new gang."

L played with his lip, "No, I have a feeling this is the work of a single person. It's funny… Their style seems familiar to me, in a way."

Ellie looked up at him, "Do you think this could be someone else from your world?"

"I don't see how," Mr. Yagami chimed in, "This is not the type of person that either Kira, or any god of life would have brought here. What if… No, it couldn't be."

"What is it," L asked nonchalantly.

Mr. Yagami crossed his eyebrows, "Well, is it possible that there's a rogue shinigami?"

"Yes," L responded, "In fact I was thinking the same thing. Kaneko," he looked at me, "I have a task for you."

I inwardly groaned. I did not want to get stuck with any assignment given from L. It could be anything from daunting, to downright dangerous. Still, I put on a brave face, "What is it?"

L must have noticed my hesitation because he said, "Relax, you will not be required to leave the tower. I simply wish for you to watch the monitors, searching for any odd behavior amongst the shinigami."

"Me? Why me, that sounds like the kind of thing you prefer to do yourself," I argued, confused.

He looked at me with his somewhat-creepy black eyes, "Normally, yes. But you have proven to be quite worthy. Should anything happen to me, I believe you to be capable enough to head this operation. You have proven that plenty of times."

"L," Ellie chimed in, "If you die, I will not hesitate to drag you back here just so I can kill you myself." She fed Nate the last spoonful of 'bananas' and wiped his extremely messy face.

"Well that's an idiotic thing to do on your part," I joked, "Because if you did, you'd just end up dying too."

A small voice decided to chime in, "Daddy!"

Everyone stopped to stare at the child sitting innocently in his high-chair. Did he just-

"Daddy," he said again, clapping his hands.

Ellie grinned brightly, making me go temporarily weak at the knees. How could one person be so stunning? "That's right," she said to her son, "Daddy! Daddy is over there, see?" She pointed to L, who was watching the kid with interest. The woman I secretly loved glowed a little brighter.

I suppressed another stab of jealousy. It was hard for me not to think that I should've been the one Nate called 'daddy.' In another life, maybe I could've been. Unfortunately, I got to Ellie a little too late… It wasn't fair that Nate looked just like L.

I didn't hate L. In fact, I thought of him as a friend, in his own odd way. However, I couldn't hold back the longing in my heart of hearts. I was being stupid. I should get over it and move on. Why couldn't I? Was I doomed to live the rest of my life wondering what could have been if only I had met Ellie before L had? That would be a shitty existence. What was I, a school girl?

L stood up, picking Nate out of his high-chair and holding him up at eye-level, "You are fairly young to be talking. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to get my intellect. You obviously have your mother's disposition." He put Nate on his shoulders, letting the kid play with his wild hair, "How lucky you would be to have the best of both ends of the spectrum."

I hated the way Ellie looked at L when he was playing with Nate. She always – literally – shined brighter and watched him as if she wanted to strip him down right then and there. It made me want to run away and never come back. But, as they've said time and again, they needed me. Apparently, I was somehow useful. It didn't make much sense though, for a doctor to be employed as an investigator, especially when any illness or injury could be cured with a snap of Ellie's fingers.

It was almost as if L was keeping me around to be another one of his successors. Oddly enough, the situation felt familiar. How could it, though? I've only ever lived for myself, working hard to become the doctor I am. I would hate having to live my life for the sole purpose of replacing someone else.

"I think we should follow the… erm… feet." Mr. Yagami said, interrupting my thoughts, "We may find out something important."

L agreed, "Yes, I do believe you're right. I feel Ellie should be the one to do it."

Ellie did not look happy about that, "Are you seriously going to tell me with a straight face that I have to follow a trail of disembodied feet from various murder victims, just to get into contact with the one who did it?"

"Yes," He replied casually, ruffling Nate's hair.

I raised my eyebrow, "You two have an odd relationship."

"I do not believe there are very many conventional things about either Ellie or I. Thus, our union would inevitably be considered strange," L said.

"Fine, I'll go," Ellie sighed, "But be warned, my attitude is going to be beyond salty because of this." She pouted.

"Well that's nothing new," I teased, "You're worse than soy sauce a good amount of the time."

"Look who's talking."

"At least I can enjoy it. You just pout."

"Oh, shut up Yori."

"You love me, admit it."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I have to like you."

And off she went. L made sure that she took a full jam jar with her. We used peach, just to see what he'd do. All the jars our wild card had used were strawberry. We put a tracker on it for good measure.

The only thing the rest of us could do in the meantime was wait.


	37. Harsh Truths

Guess what… I'm back! I know it's been a long time since I last posted, and I apologize. Life has been in the way. Fortunately, I'm off for winter break and can have some time to myself, so I decided to give it to you: my lovely readers.

Anyone still interested in reading after all this time, review and let me know what you think.

* * *

Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

Whoever this psycho was, they were seriously messed up. I decided to walk to the park, so as to prolong my arrival at the place where the severed feet had been laid out like bloody breadcrumbs. The police had roped off the entire area, to spare anyone else from finding the gruesome scene. The poor kid who found them in the first place was in therapy, and by the looks of things, would probably stay there for quite some time.

The police didn't stop me from crossing their lines of tape – mostly, because they literally couldn't see me – so I walked right in without bothering to talk to them. L would receive any relevant information from them over the phone, so it would be no use to strike up any conversation, they wouldn't be any help. As I was passing them, I noticed that one of the officers had the first stages of cancer. I concentrated on it and made it disappear. It was the least I could do to give a little life before walking into the domain of death, even if the stench could already reach my nose from 20 yards away.

The feet were in varying states of decay. Some were bloated like balloons, and some looked like they had been cut off only a few hours ago. Others were rotted away to the point where you could already see some of the bones and ligaments. Clearly our new wild card had been both on a killing spree, and had gotten a little too shovel-happy in the graveyard.

All of them, however, had one thing in common. They smelled like blood and rot. When I first arrived on the scene, my nose was bombarded with the putrid stench. It made me want to slink away and never come back. L would not be getting any cuddles for the next week because of this. Maybe I'd snuggle up to Yori instead, just to annoy him. Then again, Yori wasn't very keen on friendly displays of affection, so I made a note instead to make L give me a foot massage in retribution. It seemed like a proper irony, after all.

The feet had been lined up so that each of them was facing in the same direction. They all were placed about two yards apart from each other, and our killer had gone into so much detail that they had even alternated between left and right feet. I noticed that some of the feet were smaller than others. It made anger bubble up inside me. This vile creature was hurting children. That was a line that no one should cross, not even psychotic serial killers.

The further along the trail I got, the fresher the… erm… specimens… seemed to be. By the time I reached the end, I saw that one of the feet was still alive. It was then that I realized my eyes have been looking intently at the ground during my unpleasant walk. As my eyes moved slowly upward, I saw that the foot was connected to a leg, which was connected to a living, breathing person. They stood with their back to me, their feet mimicking the same pattern that the trail had been laid out in. This person, from the back, looked a lot like L. He had the same body type, and wore the same clothing as my husband, but his skin was a little darker. That wasn't hard, considering how pale L was, but this person in front of me looked like they had coated their skin in some sort of makeup, that was slowly washing off in his own sweat.

All this was only secondary to my initial observation, however, as I noted that this person was covered in splatters of blood, and was loosely holding a knife in one hand.

I had found our killer.

"Are you guys seeing this," I commented. I had decided to wear a body camera, so that I wouldn't be the only one to see whatever lies at the end of the trail.

"Indeed," L's scrambled voice spoke in my earpiece, "It is as I feared."

"What do you mean, 'as you feared?' Do you know who this is?" I heard another voice say.

L ignored him. It was probably either Yori or Soichiro. "Gabrielle, ensure that you do not touch him, we do not want this person to be able to see you. Move around to the front and show us his face," L ordered. He sure could be bossy sometimes, but I did as he asked.

"What the hell," I heard another voice say, "he looks just like…"

"Like me," L finished reverently.

I knew exactly who it was. I had heard about him when learning more about the manga that the anime had been based on. Sadly, I'd never been able to get my hands on a copy of it, but the internet is a wonderful place. It told me all about this person. It was the very person that Naomi Misora had helped L to catch in a bonus book. Everything made sense now. The brutality, the blood, the strawberry jam…

This was BB.

I should have been shocked, but in reality, I was fascinated. His hair was clearly dyed from brown to black, and he wore makeup to imitate L. If it weren't for the fact that the makeup was wearing off, and his hair was growing, it wouldn't have been a stretch to think that they were brothers.

I knew they weren't. They had both grown up at Wammy's orphanage, but that was as close as they would ever be to siblings. BB, however, had – or I guess has – a creepy obsession with L. He imitated him, and turned himself into what could only be described as L's evil twin.

What was truly fascinating about him, however, was that he had the shinigami eyes. Normally, that would not be particularly interesting, if not for the fact that he had never made an eye deal with a shinigami. BB had been born with the eyes, and he had a tendency to cause mischief because of it.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't an expert on BB. I had never read the manga that he was a part of, so I only knew what internet research could tell me. But I knew enough to understand that having him here was not good. Having someone walking around that looks like L could prompt Light to write L's name in the death note, and my son would be forced to grow up without a father. I might be able to bring him back, but I'd never seen someone return from the grave multiple times. Even I only died once. If L gets killed now, I might not be able to save him.

That thought put my teeth on edge. If I think for one second that having him here will cost my husband's life, I will not hesitate to snuff BB out once and for all. L would not go through his own death again.

Suddenly, I remembered the jam jar in my hand. I placed it on the ground, and rolled it so that it bumped into BB's ankle. He turned around and picked it up curiously. I then watched as he wrinkled his nose and threw it over his shoulder, where it hit a tree and cracked open.

"It appears our new friend does not like peaches," L commented. "I shall give word to the police that they may now go in to capture him. G, please return to headquarters."

Something in me snapped. "Like hell I will," I shouted, surprising even myself with the sudden curse word. Regardless, I kept talking, "I won't be satisfied until this monster is out of the picture. And you could call it 'home,' you know. Not everything is about Kira." I was fuming.

"Stopping Kira is our top priority. Please return, we have much to discuss."

"Kira this, Kira that, all you talk about is Kira! It's as if our entire relationship revolves around Kira." I love L, but this was an issue I had been holding back since he tossed me my engagement ring, "You expect me to follow your every order, then put me as only your second priority." I couldn't stop myself, the words just began flowing out of me. All my frustrations and annoyances from the moment he appeared in my closet came pouring out, "You know, my father – my spiritual father – told be something that might be of interest to you," my voice was strained and angry, "He said that you were meant to be no more than my assistant. You hear that? Nothing more than a mere helper. A means to an end. He already had someone else in mind for me to marry in order for his prophecy to be fulfilled. He said I'd meet him in Tokyo, and that he had been conditioned all his life to be my partner. He made sure that I would meet him. Who knows, maybe I never did, maybe I already have. It's just," I nearly growled in frustration, "We moved so fast that sometimes I think I should never have married you."

I stopped, shocked by the harshness of my own words. It was true that I often wondered if I'd made the right choice. But looking at all the wonderful things that came from my decision to be with L made everything worth it. Nate, for example. I wouldn't trade him for the world. And nothing could change the way I felt about my husband. I loved him to the point where I would break the most sacred law that gods of life uphold just to save him.

Despite this, I couldn't take back what I said, because no matter how cruel they were, not a word of it was false. The truth was out, and I was powerless to undo what had been done.

L didn't respond. I stood in stillness, watching the world from the outside. Everything around me seemed to blur. The silent breeze through the trees were so calm, as if there was nothing wrong with the world. It seemed wrong that the weather should be so fair when the world was so hideous.

After my mind snapped back to reality, I realized that BB had noticed the police coming closer, and he placed something on the ground before running off into the bushes. I followed him, ignoring the object he'd left behind.

He was clever, I'll give him that. He evaded the police easily. I stayed right beside him, flying in order to keep up with his quick, unpredictable movements.

L remained silent, but Yori spoke to me through my earpiece, "Ellie – I mean… Gabrielle – don't follow him, come back." He pleaded for me to return until I eventually got sick of it and tore out my earpiece, leaving it abandoned on the ground. It got run over by a car, crushing it into tiny pieces. I decided I liked having no one but myself in my head, so I took off the body camera as well. I needed to do this on my own, and I didn't want L to interfere with me.

I had no idea what my plan was, but I knew for sure that I would not be going home until BB was gone.


	38. Blood and Bone

(Trigger Warning: Self-harm)

This is a reveal I've been building up to for quite some time now. Review and let me know what you think.

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Yori Kaneko's P.O.V.

Everyone was eerily still. I hated it. I stood awkwardly in the center of the room, wondering what could be going through L's head. He merely sat there, looking at the screen that had gone blank only moments ago. Ellie had thrown her camera under a truck. There was no way of knowing where she had gone. L stared at the monitor with the same calculating expression he wore every other minute of the day. How could he seem so calm?

I decided to break the silence. "What the hell just happened," I asked to no one in particular. No one responded. They merely remained as still as statues.

Mr. Yagami looked as confused as I did. Weston wasn't here. He didn't think his stomach would be capable of containing his lunch if he saw the 'footprints' that L's psychotic look-alike left behind, and I was inclined to agree with him. He wasn't exactly cut out for this type of work. I don't understand why he's even still here. Maybe with Ellie gone, he'll go home and I won't have to deal with him any longer.

Ellie… Something she had said confused me. In the middle of her chewing out her husband, she told us that L wasn't originally intended to be her spouse. There was someone else, conditioned his whole life to be with her. I wondered if it could be me…

But no, that's not possible. And even if it was it wouldn't matter. She belonged to L.

At least, I thought she did. Her outburst was completely out of the blue. It was something I did not see coming. She had always been so loving to L. Why did Ellie pick now of all times to explode? I was no psychologist, so I could only guess. She seemed so upset. I suppose she'd had a point when she claimed that L only ever talked about Kira. It was kinda true. I've never once had a conversation with him that did not involve Light Yagami, or the shinigami, in some way or another. The only times he spoke of or with his family were always second to the case.

Thinking about it made me sick. How could L treat Ellie that way? She is a literal goddess and should be treated as such. If I had her on my arm she would be my top priority. I'd never consider her as an afterthought. If only she hadn't married L…

No. Stop. I will not allow myself to wish things like that. Those thoughts can only lead to trouble, and my life is complicated enough as it is.

My glasses had slowly moved down my nose. I readjusted them back into their proper place. The more I thought about how L interacted with his wife, the more her outburst made sense. He clearly loved her, but he didn't act like she was particularly important to him. He only ever spoke of how important she was to the Kira case. Kira this, Kira that. Every minute of the day was about Kira. I can imagine how that might get frustrating.

L reached over and grabbed a slice of cake, munching on it calmly as if nothing had happened. It made my blood boil.

"What is wrong with you?" I blurted, causing everyone in the room to give me weird looks. All except for L, who merely ignored me. "Your wife just exploded, then ran away, and you act like you don't even care. Aren't you going to go after her?"

He spoke in his infuriatingly composed monotone, "Just what do you suggest, doctor?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know. Maybe find her and apologize?" I said, letting my sarcasm portray my anger and frustration. "You can't just sit there and let her run off after a serial killer!"

"No need to get upset," he said, taking another mouthful of cake, "Beyond Birthday can do nothing to harm her, even if he tried to."

Beyond Birthday? What the hell kind of a name is that? I decided to dwell on it later. For the moment, I was more concerned with keeping myself from strangling L. "Maybe that creep can't, but you certainly can," I growled.

He turned to me, "She is physically incapable of injury. I could not hurt her either."

"There are other kinds of pain than just physical, you know. Some people actually have emotions, not that I would expect someone like you to understand that. You treat everything as if it's an equation to be solved. It's like you're not even human."

His eyes bore into mine. He stood up from his weird sitting position and walked up to me, getting uncomfortably close, all while keeping that calculating look on his face. L was not well-versed in the concept of personal space. He looked intently at me for a moment, then played with his bottom lip in the same way I noticed that Ellie does sometimes when she's thinking. His lips, however, looked considerably less appealing than hers.

"I wonder," he began coolly, "if you could possibly be thinking that you are the one Ellie spoke of. The one who was apparently supposed to be in my place."

His words took me aback. I felt ashamed, because that's exactly what I had been thinking. I couldn't let it show. "Maybe I am," I said, "and maybe I'm not. It doesn't matter what could've been. Ellie is what's important right now, and you need to fix this." Usually I would add some sarcastic quip, or a teasing insult, but now was not the time. "And if you don't," I continued, steeling myself up, "I will."

I left the room then, hoping that my words would have some sort of impact. I didn't stop walking until I was back in my room. Locking the door behind me I punched the wall with all my anger and frustration. When my hand emerged, I found that it had left a sizable hole in the wall.

An unfamiliar memory flashed through my mind:

" _Excellent work. You will be a worthy successor." A man stood over me, watching me with interest. I was so small, and it made the man look massive. He finally allowed me to leave after hours of tests and training. My daily schooling was a daunting task._

 _I felt a tinge of fear within me. I didn't want to be L's successor. Why couldn't BB do it? Just because I had a slightly higher IQ than him, doesn't mean I'm right for it. I'm only a kid, for Christ's sake!_

 _A wave of loneliness washed over me. Eleven years constantly being told who I was supposed to be. No family. No real friends. All my time was dictated by the orphanage, preparing me to take over as the next L, in case anything should happen to him. I was never allowed to be my own person. I wanted a life that belonged to me; Instead, I belonged to Wammy's._

" _A, you've got to try this," I heard BB calling for me down the hall. I followed his voice and saw him sitting at a table in the playroom with some bread and jam._

" _Try what?" I asked._

 _He smiled and dipped his finger directly into the jam jar. I crinkled my nose. That was disgusting. He held his hand out to me. "It's even better without the toast."_

 _I was not about to lick strawberry jam off of BB's hand, so I just looked at him. "Gross," I said, "I think I'll pass." I adjusted my glassed back into their place. They were too big for my face, so they always slid down my nose. "Why do you like that stuff so much anyway? It looks like mashed up brains to me."_

 _BB only laughed and continued eating. It was amazing how much he could get on his face. I turned to leave, but before I could get out the door, BB said something that rattled me, "You'll never live up to L, you know," He spoke casually, as if it were nothing more than a simple fact, "No one is good enough for that. He's too cool to be imitated."_

 _I knew he was right. Every second of every day I was being told that I would become the next L. I didn't want that life, but I had always tried my best nonetheless. It would never be enough. I would constantly need to be smarter. Faster. Better. It'd be an endless cycle for the rest of my life. It weighed on me like a thousand boulders, crushing me under their pressure._

 _I ran off, shutting out the world. I closed the door to my room and punched a wall. Even with my small hands, I had been trained so well that it left a hole where my fist had been. I looked at my hand and saw blood on my knuckles. The pain felt good._

 _I punched the wall again, leaving another hole. Then again, and again, and again until everything around me became a blur. At some point the bones in my hand broke, but I kept going, letting all my bottled-up emotions explode in one massive rampage. I was vaguely aware of hearing myself shouting at the top of my lungs, releasing a roar that practically shook the windows._

 _And then, all at once, I stopped. My hands throbbed, and my throat felt like I'd swallowed a box of needles. The flesh at my knuckles was torn to shreds, leaving only a broken and bleeding mess. It looked like how I felt: battered. I stared at the oozing red and felt a sense of calm. There was one way I could escape my fate, and that was to take it into my own hands, bashed and bruised as they were. It would be so easy. Just a flick of a knife and I wouldn't be told that I would be the next L ever again._

 _I felt no hesitation. No fear. I was ready for this. Slowly, I opened the drawer that I kept my doctor toys in. I had always secretly dreamed of being a doctor. Now all I wanted was to be free._

 _I picked up the scalpel. An ordinary child my age may have one made of plastic, but with my intellect being what it was, I was allowed to have actual replicas of the tools. I wouldn't be foolish enough to cut myself on accident, and our caretakers knew it. The scalpel I held in my hand was sharp, and I saw my face reflected in the small surface._

 _Slowly, I brought the blade to my wrist, making sure to cut upward instead of across so that if I was found before the process was complete, my vein would not be easily stitched back up. If I would do this, I would do it right._

 _I switched the blade to my other hand and repeated the motion, slicing cleanly through tender flesh. I dropped my glasses to the ground and crushed them beneath my feet as I moved my way to the bed. I laid down, and watched as the world went black._

 _Soon I stood in a new place. Somewhere with gleaming white sand, and music on the air. A glowing man with a kind face took me in his arms. Beside him stood a beautiful woman with silver eyes. She looked at me sadly, then placed a finger on my forehead. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt peace._

My mind was jolted out of the memory as suddenly as it had come. All the dots were lining up. I was far more than Yori Kaneko.

I was the reincarnation of A.


	39. You've Got Mail

So yeah, that's a thing. I've been dropping subtle hints about Yori being A for a while now, and I figured it was finally time for the reveal. For those who don't know because it's a bit of an obscure reference: A was the first choice to be L's successor, with BB being second in line. But, he couldn't handle all the pressure. A committed suicide and BB became… well, BB.

Also, please review. It helps me gain motivation. More motivation means faster updates. Faster updates mean less awful cliffhangers. Less awful cliffhangers mean happy readers. Plus, reviews completely make my day, I absolutely love them.

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Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.

I tailed Beyond Birthday for several blocks, until he eventually ducked into what looked like a hospital. He went down a flight of stairs until he came to the very bottom. He went through a door that led to some section that had been blocked off. It looked like it hadn't been used in quite some time.

BB made his way through a series of corridors. I followed closely while examining my surroundings. The halls looked as if they had once been white, but years of obvious neglect had left them tarnished and moldy. The air smelled of blood and antiseptic, with just a hint of rat poop. It was rancid. Every whiff made me want to tear my own nose off.

I continued pursuing my prey until he turned into what I could only guess was where he spent most of his time. One corner was littered with broken glass and jar lids. It looked like he simply threw them over his shoulder when he was done eating and didn't bother to clean them up. There was a hospital bed in another corner facing an old television set. The news was blaring, saying something about the feet he'd left in the park. It seemed to be the only clean part of the entire area.

However, what really caught my attention was the slab in the center of the room. I stood, horrified, as I saw several lumps of flesh that were being stitched together to resemble someone. The work was masterfully done and it depicted a gruesome, yet uncanny likeness to the subject.

It was like BB had created a Frankenstein's monster version of L.

He had clearly taken his time doing this. He found someone with L's hair and used that, then someone with his same nose and stitched that on, continuing until he had created the creepiest rag-doll I had ever seen. However, L's – no, that _thing's_ – left leg and both its hands were missing.

"I know what you're thinking," BB said, startling me out of my thoughts, "You're upset that I have all the jam. Well, here you go," He held out a spoon and my heart skipped a beat, thinking he could somehow see me. However, I relaxed once I realized he wasn't talking to me, but to his deranged project. "Oh, come now, it's all right, go ahead, have some." BB stuffed the spoon into the corpse's swollen mouth and laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

As his cackles slowly ebbed, he dipped his hand into the jar he had produced from somewhere while I wasn't looking, and licked his fingers with a nightmarish grin. He placed the jar to the side, and pulled something from his pocket. My jaw dropped as I saw that it was a disembodied hand. He had kept it from dripping everywhere by placing it in a Ziploc bag, and now it was practically marinating in its own blood and pus. I nearly vomited right then and there.

BB hummed happily to himself as he sowed the new piece onto the project's left arm. He was extremely precise, making sure that everything lined up perfectly. At one point, he dripped some of his jam onto the project. Without a second thought he scooped it back up and ate it anyway. If it were possible for me to be sick, I would have.

I could only take so much, so I had to look away. I would not be able to stay here with this madman. I didn't even have a plan for how to take him down. However, I definitely wasn't going home until this matter was solved. For one, L's life was in danger as long as BB remained; and secondly, I was still mad at him for being obsessed and insensitive. Nate would miss me, I'm sure, but he's in good hands. Even if L was stupid enough to neglect him – which I doubted – Yori and Weston were still there, as well as Watari and Mr. Yagami. My son would be well cared for in my absence.

I knew of only one place I could go for help, and I knew exactly how to find it.

I thought back to the letters we had sent Matt and Mello containing the papers from various death notes. I knew Mello would be too cautious to give the address of where he actually is, but I was certain the notes had gotten to them. That meant I would be able to find him.

Sneaking one last glance at the gruesome scene, which I immediately regretted doing, I turned around and left the way BB had come. Once outside, I stared at the building for a long while, committing it to memory. Now that I knew where BB was staying, I could not allow him to shake me. When I was finally satisfied that no details would be forgotten, I turned, and took off in the direction of Matt and Mello.

My whole mortal life I had dreamed of flying. Before that I had viewed it as merely commonplace, and thus nothing to be admired. But now, after having been stuck on the ground for so long, I reminded myself to appreciate every minute of it. I breathed in the cold air as it whipped across my face. I didn't bother trying to hide from the shinigami. If they tried to follow me across the ocean I'd just camouflage myself in the clouds until I was too far away for them to keep track of my movements.

It was a long way back to the Americas. Matt and Mello were somewhere near California, according to the mailing address. I made sure to swipe a few chocolate bars for a certain chocoholic, and a pen and envelope before touching back down. It's amazing how petty theft seems so insignificant when you're trying to take down the world's worst criminals 24/7. In my mortal age, before L, I would have been severely guilty if I took even something as small as a pencil without paying for it. At this point I couldn't care less.

I stuck the chocolate in the envelope and wrote the address. I had forgotten what their alias names were, so I just left that bit blank. Slapping a stamp on it, I placed it in the post office bin and waited.

It took all night for someone to finally come collect the mail. I had been hovering cross-legged over the pile of messages for hours, my hand supporting my bored head.

When a scrawny, teenage boy came in and took the mail, I decided to just hitch a ride, sitting on the pile of postage. I only moved when he stopped so that I could see when they grabbed my letter.

Luckily, it was right at the top. A postal worker grabbed an armful of letters and brought them over to a work table, where he began sorting it out. When he got to mine, he stopped short, staring at it for a moment.

"Hey, Carlos, come here a second," The man called out.

Another, slightly older-looking man with curly brown hair came over. "Yeah, Ben, what is it?"

Ben held the letter up and handed it to Carlos, "We got another one. This one's kinda heavy."

When Carlos examined the address, his face grew sober. He didn't say anything. Instead, he nodded and started walking away. I followed him out a back door and back outside. He kept to dark alleys, and took several winding turns. At one point, he passed the letter to someone loitering outside a gas station. I followed the woman through a series of several more twists and turns until she passed it to another person. This cycle went on about five more times until finally the last person – who was taller than a tree and sported more muscle than an ox – slipped the letter through a slot in a heavy metal door that looked strong enough to withstand a nuclear blast.

I peeked my head through the door, and watched as someone bent down to pick the letter up off the floor. He smoked a cigarette, and carried a gun at his hip. I'd recognize that cocky grin anywhere.

It was Matt.


	40. A Mello Attitude

So it's been a while. Please don't crucify me… I promised not to abandon this story and I never break a promise, plus I love this fic far too much to leave it to rot. The next several chapters will be posted in quick succession to make up for my long absence. **I'm back, baby!**

By the way, in this chapter Mello comments on how he "literally wrote the book on the Los Angeles BB murder cases." What he's referring to if you did not know is that the book in which BB himself is featured is meant to be read as if Mello had written them. This is not a spoiler, as that is said in the first few pages of the book.

Reviews make me super happy and keep me motivated, the more I get the faster I'm likely to write.

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Mail Jeevas' P.O.V.

I heard the familiar creak of the mail slot. Maybe that idiot mob boss finally decided to stop being a moron and just do what Mello says. He's only got two days left before we burn his house to the ground with his grandmother inside it. I hated arson jobs, they were so annoying. Shooting, on the other hand, those were a ton of fun, especially when you held the gun.

I finished lighting my cigarette and bent down to pick the new envelope off the floor. It was bulky. This obviously wasn't a letter, there was some kind of object inside. I stared at it curiously, then pulled a knife out of my pocket to open it. When the paper tore open, I raised my eyebrows at the contents. It was full of chocolate. Not Mello's favorite kind, but I'm sure he'd eat it anyway, as soon as he was sure it wasn't poisoned. People were always trying to kill the bastard. It was the decade's biggest eye roll.

"Surprise!" I heard a voice shout from the doorway. Instinctively I pulled out my gun and pointed it at the intruder, ready to capture or kill if necessary.

Then my jaw dropped. Was I hallucinating? It was none other than Ellie Lawliet, staring at me. Her skin glowed in the faint light, and all the scars she should have had from the Mikami incident were nonexistent. She looked positively ethereal. What was truly odd, though, was the fact that she wasn't standing outside the door, or even in it, she was leaning _through_ it, like it was no more than mist to her. I noted with a tinge of disappointment that her incredibly cute butt was not visible from this angle.

I continued to aim the gun at her brain. This has got to be some weird trick. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" I kept my voice casual yet demanding.

She looked genuinely hurt, "Really? You don't recognize me? I know it's been a while, but I didn't know I was _that_ easy to forget." She stepped the rest of the way through the door and my eyes impulsively wandered down her extremely pleasing form. Damn… She's even hotter than I remember. L sure knew how to pick 'em.

"Of course I recognize you," I narrowed my eyes, "That's why I know you're not you. The real Ellie should be covered in scars, and your skin doesn't even have a pimple. Who are you, and why are you impersonating my friend?"

She laughed, "Oh, okay, that's all. I thought you'd forgotten me, and I was about to be really sad for a minute there." Without answering my question, or acknowledging the gun I pointed directly at her skull, she jumped forward and hugged me excitedly, "It's so good to see you. We've really missed you, you know. I wanted Nate to get to know you, but I haven't seen you since the wedding, and we haven't heard much from you." She then released me from the hug – from which I had been caught unawares and was now somewhat dazed – and walked right passed me.

On the off chance that this really was Ellie, which it couldn't possibly be, I moved the gun from her head to her leg, so as not to kill her. I pulled the trigger, shooting her directly in the achilles tendon. It was a shot designed to immobilize, but not mortally wound.

It didn't make a scratch.

"What the hell was that about," I heard Mello shout irritably from the next room.

I merely stood there, shell shocked. What was this thing? Some sort of shape-shifting shinigami?

She, on the other hand just looked back at me, gave me a mischievous wink, and moved toward the room where Mello was busy mapping out all the latest Kira killings. Or, more accurately, he was leaning against a wall eating chocolate while he made his minions sort through papers and do it for him.

Confused and on alert, I rushed to beat the Ellie impersonator to the door, blocking her way. "Stop right there," I ordered, holding the useless gun up to her face, "What are you?"

She just rolled her eyes, obviously amused, and then proceeded to walk directly through me.

I barely felt a thing. There was a slight warmth, like sunlight, but it was subtle, and it was gone as quickly as it came. It might have been the strangest experience I'd ever had, aside from being shot and killed, then waking up in an alternate dimension.

"Mello!" She shouted excitedly, running forward and pulling him into a hug as well. He wasn't sure how to react. Mello was not the touchy-feely type. Even I had never hugged him, and we've been practically brothers for as long as I can remember.

"What the hell?"

The other men in the room looked at him curiously, "What's the matter, boss?"

Ignoring them, he pushed her off, putting enough force into the blow to knock down a bull. She merely stepped back politely and smiled at him.

"Good to see you too. I brought you a present." She held out the envelope full of chocolate that I just realized she took from me without my noticing.

He just stared at her, "Ellie?"

She curtsied dramatically, "In the flesh."

The men looked confused, "Uhhh, sir? Who's Ellie?"

Mello made his subordinates leave the room so he could scrutinize our intruder properly. Once he was sure we were alone, he looked at her suspiciously. "Okay, prove it."

"Prove what?" She asked.

"Prove that you're the real Ellie." He kept his voice blank, cautious to ensure he didn't give this creature any information, only that he received it.

She shrugged, "Okay, fine. My name is Ellie Lawliet, formerly known as Ellie May. I am married to L Lawliet, who just so happens to be a character in a very popular anime. You two are also from said anime. Your real names are Mail Jeevas and Mihael Keehl. Light Yagami is Kira, and has now travelled to this world in some kind of spirit form, trying to once again gain the title of a god in this dimension. Shinigami are a thing, and L and I sent you multiple sheets of paper torn from various Shinigami's death notes in order to help your separate investigation, despite your obvious distain for outside help. Also, something you did not know, I died in childbirth and came back as a god of life. Remember the time you got an envelope that just had hair in it? That's how you can see me. That's also why your little pets seemed so confused. To them, you looked like you were talking to thin air, and having muscle spasms, because I have not touched them. That may answer some questions" She stared back at us, "Should I go on?"

I didn't know how to react to that. Mello kept his usual angry-but-in-control-of-everyone composure, but I could tell – only because I've known him so long – that he wasn't sure what to make of this either.

"Okay," Mello said "Fine, I believe you. There would not be much to gain from someone pretending to be Ellie, and if they did, no one would come up with a story that ridiculous. Now what in the name of Wammy's is a god of life? Some sort of shinigami?"

"Not quite," Ellie answered, sitting down on a chair. I could swear her skin was glowing even more than it was before. The light in this room was not that flattering, there's got to be something else going on. She continued, "Gods of life are essentially the opposite of a shinigami. They bring death, we bring life. It's all a balance. We're the Yin to their Yang, I guess you could say."

"Oh, I get it," I interrupted, "gods of life keep life flowing, and gods of death keep things from getting over populated, is that right?"

She smiled, "Yes, that's how it used to be. Sadly, the shinigami grew idle, so we've had to slow our progress down as well. Since then, nature has taken its course, and now you're all stuck with global warming and over increasing population rates. Letting humans regulate themselves always ends in disaster. Everything is off-balance now. Kira is only making it worse with his biased killings."

"That still doesn't explain why you, a person who was definitely just a human, is now supposedly a god," Mello eyed her.

"Ah, yes, about that…"

Ellie went on to tell us about how she was sent here in human form, then died, and ended up as she is now. Mello and I listened in interested silence. It was quite the tale, and she went into incredible detail. (I was particularly amused with the bit about the wolf spiders. Man, I wish I could've seen it.) At one point, I pulled out my game to keep me occupied while I listened. Sitting around doing nothing could get tedious if I didn't have my game with me. Ellie didn't seem to mind.

However, I immediately stopped and looked up when she mentioned that BB was back. That asshole was batshit crazy. If he was here, we'll be having a lot of fun taking him down. Things were finally getting interesting.

I wondered if anyone else had arrived here. A, or maybe Naomi Misora. They could be anywhere. At least, the ones who have died certainly could. Even that annoying guy on Sakora TV could have ended up here. There were a lot of deaths in our old world. Knowing that people can arrive here somewhere other than that tiny closet was an important piece of information that I had no doubt would interest Mello.

By the time she was done, the sun had gone down and the bunker was virtually empty, except for a few guards. All of Mello's thugs had left to go do whatever it is they do when they're not under his immediate control. Probably threaten some poor old business owners out of their lunch money. Whatever the reason we were blissfully alone, so no one could interrupt us.

"And I thought the whole concept of the notebooks was weird…" I mused, "This is in a league in and of itself."

"And BB is here, which I'm sure I don't have to tell you is bad news for L, as well as both of you," Ellie looked pointedly at Mello and I, "If Kira finds out that more people have or even can travel here by means other than through shinigami, all he has to do is do a quick internet search to find out your names. In seconds both of you, as well as L, could be dead. That's why I need your help."

"Our help?" Mello spoke sourly, "Why should you need our help when you have the original L at your beck and call? He's more than capable of handling BB, he did it before. I should know. I literally wrote the book on the Los Angeles BB murder cases, the only people who know more about it are L and BB himself."

Mello's typical angry attitude didn't seem to bother Ellie. But something that Mello said made her frown. "What's wrong," I asked after a moment too long of silence.

She sighed, "I guess I should just tell you. I sort of shouted at L and said some rather harsh things… Plus I'm incredibly frustrated with him at the moment. Every conversation we have is about Kira, from the moment I met him, through our entire relationship, Kira-Kira-Kira." Her voice grew increasingly annoyed with every word she spoke. She went on for nearly an hour. Soon she was straight-up ranting. She went on and on, plopping down onto a couch as if we were her therapists, "I mean, he even went so far as to threaten Nate, saying that if I didn't do as he asked then our son would be in danger. I was so angry I punched him hard enough that he flew across the room."

I laughed out loud at that, "Ha! Now that's an image. I can't picture L losing a fight, let alone flying across a room in a single hit."

"Oh, he needed stitches in his scalp and he had a bruise on his stomach for the next week, but I don't feel bad," she tilted her head up defiantly, "he deserved it." That sent me into a fit of laughter that refused to ebb for the next several minutes.

As I cackled, Mello spoke for the first time in a while, "How the hell did you manage to beat him at chess? Even I haven't been able to do that."

She shrugged, "Practice, I guess?"

Someone knocked at the door. Mello growled, "What do you want?"

"Boss," the muffled voice of an obvious smoker wafted through the door, "We found out where your guy is. He's in some abandoned warehouse in Tokyo."

"Yeah, we know, now get out of here before I lose my patience and decide to shoot that useless brain of yours out of your thick skull," Mello ordered.

"Uhh… Boss?"

Mello responded by firing a warning shot at the ceiling, "I said beat it!"

I heard footsteps shuffling away quickly. We looked back at Ellie, "Okay," I asked, "Let's get started. Where exactly is BB?"

A slow grin crept across her ethereal face.


	41. Silence or I Keehl you

My dog Padmé wishes to convey her greetings and asks that you review. Reviews make her human happy, and her human being happy makes her tail wag. Do it for the waggles, friends.

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Mihael Keehl's P.O.V.

I'm not entirely sure why Ellie Lawliet was so upset about L being focused on hunting down Kira. She should have expected it, really. Honestly, he was more affectionate with her than I'd ever seen him with anyone. The idea of him having a kid was an odd picture, especially seeing as he'd have to actually have sex to make that happen. I simply couldn't picture it. Ellie did have a certain charm to her, however, so I couldn't blame him. She was pretty, even as a human. Now she was absolutely angelic. I guess if L can find someone, then there was hope for everyone.

Matt, despite Ellie being married to the person he and I respect above all others, couldn't take his eyes off her ass. It made me want to punch him in the face. For a Wammy's-level genius, he could be a total idiot. But, at lease Ellie didn't notice. I had no intention of earning L's disdain just because my partner gave a bit too much attention to his wife.

BB, on the other hand, was an entirely different issue. With Ellie – an incorporeal being with untold powers – at our disposal, we could very well capture him, and even use him to our advantage. It could be that we'll beat L to punch in defeating Kira once and for all. I wondered if that robot Near would be jealous that I get to compete with our predecessor and mentor. Maybe I'll finally surpass L.

"I'm gonna hit the sack," Matt announced, "Let me know when we land."

We'd hopped on a private jet the moment Ellie let us know where BB was. We'll catch him and get him locked up the moment we land. Ellie could have easily just flown back to Tokyo on her own, but she elected to ride with us, playing on Matt's portable game. There wasn't much to talk about with Matt asleep, and Ellie had already told me everything I needed to know, so I decided to get a little rest too. When I woke up, Ellie was leaning over my chair staring at me with an odd expression on her face. It startled me so bad my hand shot out of its own accord punching her in the face. My fist went right through.

"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" Ellie asked as if nothing had happened.

"A fact most people wouldn't live to discover," I glowered, "Why were you staring at me."

"Because you were talking about Wammy's. You went into excruciating detail."

That got my attention. Even though she already knew about Wammy's, it was unsettling to hear that name coming from the mouth of someone who had never actually been there. "What about Wammy's?"

She stood back up, allowing me enough space to lift my head, "Well," she started, thoughtfully, "You kept talking about the people you knew there. L, Near, Matt, BB… Even someone named A. I was interested, because while I knew about A, so little is known about him. Even an in-depth google search would tell you practically nothing. You, on the other hand, knew a great deal."

I sat up, ignoring the protest of my aching muscles after sitting in the same position for who-knows how long. "And what, pray tell, did I say?"

"You didn't exactly give a list of facts about him so much as you were talking to him. It seemed like he was divulging secrets to you or something. You kept promising not to tell anyone." She tilted her head slightly, "did he really always want to be a doctor rather than a detective?"

I hesitated, but Ellie was trusted even by L. Besides, there wasn't much else she didn't already know, I figured I might as well tell her. "Yes, he did. He hated Wammy's House. He thought of it as a huge burden, as well as an inefficient way to help people. He always was overly emotional."

She gave a gentle smile, "So he wanted to help people?"

I nodded, reaching over to an unfinished chocolate bar beside me, "Yeah. Plus, he found the healing arts to be fascinating. He even had a set of surgical tool replicas. Ironic how something meant to make someone get better wound up being the very thing he used to kill himself." I took a bite of the candy bar, savoring the sweet flavor.

She brought her hand to her mouth in a gasp, "that's terrible… Wasn't he a genius? He could have made such an impact. What could possibly have happened that would make him think he had no way out?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Your husband happened, that's what. A was number one on L's list of successors. Above me, above Near, even above Beyond Birthday. Out of all of us, his intellectual scores were the highest. He passed every test; overcame every challenge. The only thing he couldn't do was deal with the stress of it all. Even BB is who he is in large part due to L." Ellie was glaring at me now. I took another bite of chocolate, "That's the difference between a pretender and a true successor. They didn't have what it takes, so one ended his life, and the other went insane."

The ambient glow surrounding Ellie turned slightly red. She took an indignant step forward, "How dare you blame L for all this. It wasn't his fault some poor kid was driven to suicide. And it wasn't his fault that BB went psycho! L is who he is. If anything, it's Wammy's House's fault for trying to force those poor kids to become him. If everyone there is so smart, why couldn't they see that A was having a hard time? Or that BB was a literal serial-killer in the making? There had to be red flags."

There were, and I had definitely noticed them. But, A was my competition. Near is too much of a robot to care, L was already off somewhere else by then, and no one else in Wammy's was intelligent enough to see the signs. I could tell that A was going to snap, I just didn't stop him. And I'd have done it again. I didn't regret any inaction I took. He was just another obstacle in my way. Despite my lack of remorse, however, I felt compelled to lie. I looked Ellie in the eyes and told her, "There weren't. A's suicide was out of the blue, and BB left before anyone noticed anything amiss. Everyone there was strange, so any odd behavior was merely written off as another absurdity."

"They were kids! Surely an orphanage with Wammy's resources would be able to tell if a child is mentally unstable."

"Evidently," I told her, taking another bite, finishing off the chocolate bar, "they didn't deem it necessary."

Her glare intensified, "Then for a bunch of geniuses, you all can be pretty thick." And with that she turned around, gliding away. It was a bit disconcerting to see her phase through the side of the plane and sit down on the wing mid-flight, but I paid it no mind. At least she'd stop bothering me. I stood up to close the window so I wouldn't have to see her fuming pouts. For an eternal being, she could be remarkably similar to an infant.

Speaking of immaturity, Matt strode into the main cabin from the bedroom stretching, "I heard arguing. Something up?" He spoke between a massive yawn, "because if there is you should probably forget about it. She's a goddess who can either make your life miserable, or wonderful and long-lasting, depending on how you suck up to her."

I glared at Mello, "There's no way I'm going to kiss her ass just because she can magically grow a few spiders."

He put his hands up in mock surrender, "Okay, okay, captain grumps, but if you get sick from all that chocolate, or someone shoots you – which hurts, by the way – she's your best chance at survival. You know, I bet if she was there when our base exploded you'd never have gotten those ugly burn scars in the first place that you were so happy to be rid of."

My hand moved to my cheek of its own accord, feeling the smooth skin that had once been charred flesh. I could still practically feel the fire searing half my face off.

Matt grinned, "Plus, admit it, you kinda like her," he sat in my chair and put his hands behind his head, "after all, you haven't once threatened to kill her friends or family. That must mean you don't think she's as annoying or useless as you like to pretend. Not to mention, she's got one fine ass."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sure L would love to hear about how you keep hitting on his wife. Perhaps I should pass on your sentiments."

He merely shrugged, "At least I admit to liking her. You just need to accept the fact that you obviously don't hate her."

Sometimes Matt could be incredibly annoying. He was right of course, I didn't hate Ellie. In fact I looked at her as somewhat of a friend, of which I had very few. Still, that didn't change the fact that half the time I wanted to punch him square in the jaw.


	42. Musings of a Lovesick Detective

So, I've just started (and promptly finished, because I couldn't put it down) reading _Death Note – Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases_ , and I absolutely loved it! There's a whole other side to L that neither the manga, nor the anime (which are virtually identical, by the way) never explored. He's surprisingly human. I also gained a lot of insight into Wammy's house and learned plenty about Watari/Quillish Wammy.

Anyway, I plan to slowly implement a little of L's personality from the BB novel into this story. Enjoy, and feel free to review!

* * *

L Lawliet's P.O.V.

I munched on my cake, staring at the screen that now showed only static. Yori stomped off in fury as Mr. Yagami continued yelling into the microphone, trying to reach Ellie, but I knew there would be no answer. She had cast her equipment aside in pursuit of BB, and I highly doubted she would be back any time soon.

My eyes wandered over to my son. Nate must have sensed that something was wrong, because he was on the verge of crying. He didn't even bother to chew on his spider toy, a sure sign that he was unhappy. When he finally started wailing, I had already tuned everything out, my mind going a million miles an hour.

My wife's outburst had come from nowhere, and I can honestly say that I had not seen it coming. That in itself is impressive. Even more so was the fact that despite my having access to every camera in the city, and my having a general idea where she had been a moment ago, I had no idea where she was anymore. I put down my cup of coffee that I had been sipping since the start of the operation and quickly stood from my chair. Without a word I raced over to the elevator, pressing the button that would take me to the bottom floor.

As I walked away, I heard Soichiro Yagami calling after me, "L? L! L, where are you going?"

Ignoring him, I watched the door close and waited as the elevator took me to the bottom of the tower. When I reached the ground level, I grabbed a mask and hat off one of the shelves, shoving them on as I hurried outside. The fresh air felt strange in my lungs after having been inside for so long, but I paid it no mind. I hopped into one of the cars I saw parked on the street and hotwired it. This one was far more discreet than the limousine I liked to cart Ellie around in. I made a mental note to buy an older, less recognizable vehicle the next chance I got.

It only took a few minutes to drive over to the park where Beyond Birthday had left his little joke. Several police cars were surrounding the area and the park was already being roped off. With a quick glance to make sure none of the shinigami were around, I took off my mask and got out of the car, showing off a fake investigator badge to the police. The name said Lawrence on it… The same alias Ellie had given me the first week we'd met.

I followed the disembodied feet until I got to the end of the path, where I saw the shattered jar of peach jam. BB had been fond of puzzles. His main goal in life had been to try to surpass me in a game of riddles, trying to destroy me in a battle of wits. He had lost of course, due in part to Naomi Misora's quick thinking as well as my helpful guidance though his labyrinth of obscure clues.

But I wasn't looking for B this time. I was looking for Ellie. A far more challenging prospect, as she was incorporeal. I could see her, I could touch her, I could even taste her. But as much as I enjoyed doing so, the only thing I could do without her express permission would be to look at her. She could pass through walls as easily as if they weren't even there when she so wished, meaning that finding her would be a very daunting task as she was unlikely to leave behind evidence or a trail of any kind.

Beyond, on the other hand, was something else entirely. Smart as he was, he was still only a human, and would thus leave behind a trail. There was no telling if he knew that I was here as well or not, but I didn't think that he did. The clues he had left this time were far too obvious. They were too easy to solve for someone like me. They were clearly meant to antagonize the police in general, and therefore Kira. If Kira didn't know who he was, then he couldn't kill him. And as far as BB knew, Kira would have no way of finding out who he was other than to have the police catch him.

He was mocking Light Yagami. I smiled slightly to myself at the thought. Light likely hated BB already. If anything, having him run loose would be a good way to distract him from Ellie and I as we look for a way to destroy Kira permanently.

However, Ellie had gone after Beyond. That meant that wherever BB was, Ellie was likely to be there as well. I went down on my hands and knees, examining the last foot in the trail. It was clearly a woman's foot, as it was particularly dainty and sported bright red nail polish. It smelled slightly of antiseptic. I examined it from every angle, then moved on to the grass in front of it. There was a slight indentation where someone had been standing fairly recently.

I thought about the trail of feet. Why would it have stopped here? What was so special about this spot? It was possible that he simply ran out of feet. But I doubted that, as I had counted an odd number of them, and most people tended to have two. It also seemed that he had no issue taking as many as he wanted. No, this was definitely deliberate.

It was possible that BB had some sort of literal meaning behind stopping the feet here. I stood up, staring at my feet. If I were walking forward, leaving footsteps behind me, then how would I manage to make the footsteps stop. There were a few possibilities. Either the material beneath me changes – for example going from mud to stone – and the footsteps are simply no longer visible, I have stopped moving – thus having reached my destination and no more footprints need to be made – or, the last possibility, I somehow have gone upwards. Seeing as the ground continued on as simple grass and BB was obviously no longer here, I believed it was the latter. Glancing upward, at first I didn't see anything. But, as I searched the area above me I saw something in the tree that clearly didn't belong there.

A ragged piece of once-white cloth billowed in the light breeze, tied loosely to the limb of a tree directly above where the feet stopped. One might mistake it for common garbage that had blown up there in the wind if they didn't know any better. As I examined the cloth I soon recognized it as a bandage. It looked like the same type of medical fabric Dr. Kaneko had used to patch up Ellie's stab wounds, only much older and dirtier.

My thumb moved to my lip on its own. I chewed on my nail in thought. What message could he be sending by leaving behind an old bandage? Was he trying to say that all these people had been sick? Was he attempting to guide us to his next little scene?

I was pulled from my thoughts as I saw something in the distance. A shinigami was flying around the area. It was still far enough away that the likelihood of it seeing me was only 17%, But I still considered those odds to be against me. Immediately I put my mask back on, then climbed up into the tree to get to the bandage. The police would almost certainly ignore it even if I had left it there, and I wanted to consult with Yori on the significance of it. His background in medicine may prove invaluable in finding my wife.

I dropped down from the branch, landing in the soft grass inches away from the woman's severed foot. Standing up, I walked rather quickly towards a spot where the police had not yet roped off the area. It was a reasonably large park, after all. Leaving the stolen car where I had parked it, I walked back to the tower.

No… Not the tower. Ellie apparently wanted me to call it _home_. I only ever really thought of it as a base of operations, but it seems that Ellie had been considering it a far more personal place. It was a strange concept to me, as I had never really preferred to stay in one area. I always followed where my cases took me. She, on the other hand, was clearly not accustomed to the concept of detachment.

This idea got me thinking of everything else she had said. She'd claimed that our entire relationship had been about Kira. Looking back, I could see why she would say so. Unless I considered something important and relevant, I would not bother to say it. From the perspective of those not privy to my inner thoughts, my entire life in this dimension has been centered on defeating Kira. As much as Ellie could do, she was still unable to read minds. Perhaps she was unaware of how much I truly did love her.

In all my life both in this world and my old one, I had never genuinely loved anyone. The idea was foreign to me, only understood academically though observation of others. The closest real connection I'd ever had to a person was with Light, because despite him being Kira, he'd been the only person I ever felt like I could call a friend. That is, until I met Ellie. I still don't know what it was about her that I found so enchanting. All I knew was that I was in love with her, and it felt strange. The more I got to know her, the more attached I grew.

When she said that sometimes she wished she never married me, my chest grew tight. I didn't know how much of a hold she had on me until that moment, when she exploded in a burst of pent-up frustration. Her tone suggested that she'd meant every word, and at that moment I nearly panicked. I hated the thought of losing her and being alone again like I had my entire life before dying and showing up here.

Now that I'd had a taste of what it felt like to be liked for who I was – after a lifetime of people giving me uncomfortable looks and whispers about how weird I seemed – rather than just for my investigative abilities, I refused to die alone again. I would find Ellie, even if it meant forgetting Kira entirely. I couldn't defeat him without her anyway.

My thoughts were interrupted when I got to the tower door and was promptly tackled to the ground.


End file.
